On May 15th, Muscle Powered joined the Chamber of Commerce for the Carson City Freeway Multi-Use Path and Freeway Embankments Cleanup. Early in the morning, we met at the north Home Depot near the entrance to the multi-use path, got our instructions, broke into groups, and picked out our tools.
The “Before” Picture – Near the Path Entrance
Some groups worked on the tumbleweeds, others picked up trash. While some people walked and cleaned the entire path from College Parkway to Northridge Drive, the bulk of the trash was near the College Parkway entrance. The fence here catches anything that blows in from the west, and is located directly east of the WalMart shopping center. There was so much trash that it was overwhelming at first!
Community Cleanup Trailer
The tumbleweeds were great in number, and their bulkiness filled the dumpsters rapidly. Some of the volunteers jumped into the dumpsters to stomp them down, as truckload after truckload kept bringing more. I spent most of my time collecting small pieces of garbage that were stuck between the rock wall and the chain link fence, and filled a few bags with it.
Loading tumbleweeds into the truck
In addition to the help provided by Muscle Powered members, people from Parks and Recreation, the Chamber of Commerce, and even candidate for sheriff Bob White and his crew were there lending a hand. Several other folks that I didn’t get to meet were helping out too.
We filled two gigantic dumpsters!
After the event, I talked with Ronni Hannaman, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, and we discussed the importance of these volunteer events. City, County, and State budgets have been crippled, and unless citizens come out and volunteer, our parks and trails will start to deteriorate. Vern Krahn from Parks and Recreation said they are planning another cleanup for June. We didn’t even get to the section of path that connects College Parkway to HWY 395, and there are Carson River trails that need cleaning as well. Stay tuned for more cleanups. Come down and make a difference!
The “After” picture – A clean path entrance!