An annual community cleanup was another motivating factor for the few Juneau residents who were not drawn outside Saturday by the radiant sun and bright-blue sky.
Litter Free Inc. is a local nonprofit that works to clean up the environment and encourage recycling. It has once again been organized. City-Wide CleanupIt distributes brightly colored bags and volunteers pick up trash from public lands.
“We just thought we’d get out because we love the Earth,” said Jamie Thill, who was collecting litter along Mendenhall Loop Road.
Jamie Thill said that John Thill and Gerald Thill (7 years old) joined him in the cleanup effort. This was their first participation in the long-running event. The family moved to Juneau from Boise in Idaho last year.
Although it was the first Thills event, it has a long tradition in the city. Litter Free Inc. president Laurie Sica said that the event has been going on at least since Litter Free Inc. was officially established in the mid-1980s. It is possible that it predates that.
She claimed that papers prove that Juneau Mayor B.D. Stewart advocated for a comprehensive citywide cleanup.
“So we like to say we have over 100 years of history,” Sica said.
In an email, Sica stated 12,730 pounds of trash were brought to the landfill, and about 600 people took bags to pick up trash —plus more people to haul the trash to the landfill, manage the disposal and organize the event.
“We are so thankful to them all, and to all the people who chose to grab a bag and pick up trash on one of the most beautiful days we have had this year!” Sica stated. “The only disappointment of the day is that we had to dispose of some items that we shouldn’t have to pick up if people managed their own waste properly — including pruned spruce tree limbs in yellow bags, many tires, a refrigerator and a dishwasher dumped on public property.”
A large network of local organizations and businesses helps to support the annual cleanup.
Bag distribution sites included the Douglas Public Library and Fire Hall, Foodland IGA’s parking lot, Western Auto, Fred Meyer, Super Bear IGA, Duck Creek Market and Forbidden Peak Brewery. Branta Street was also a bag site for the Southeast Alaska Land Trust and Coastal CODE’s wetlands cleanup.
Coastal CODE —Clean Oceans Depend on Everyone —is supported by Alaskan Brewing Co. and grants money toward projects that promote cleanup activities in coastal areas, the Duck Creek Market site was hosted by Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, according to Litter Free Inc., and Friends of Recycling volunteers helped sort recyclables at the landfill.
Sica said that if bags of collected litter linger on curbs in the coming days, people can alert organizers at [email protected].
More than one time per year
John Logan, in addition to his extensive history with the annual cleanups, is also the Youth Litter Patrol coordinator at Litter Free Inc.
That branch of the organization pays nonprofit youth groups $12 per hour per person — with a cap of $1,200 per cleanup — for cleanups conducted outside of the annual event. Logan stated that there is a two week buffer between Litter Patrol cleanups and the annual event. However, Logan said that more people would be welcome to participate once the window opens.
“We’re always looking for more groups,” he said.
There’s been some years in which the patrol had to turn away applicants because of limited funds, Logan said, but that seems unlikely to be the case this year.
“We’ve had a pretty good couple of years,” he said.
Additional information about Youth Litter Patrol is available online at https://litterfree.org/litter-patrol/.
• Contact Ben Hohenstatt at (907)308-4895 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BenHohenstatt
Bags of litter will be collected during the 2022 Annual Citywide Cleanup Public Lands. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)