Trash Bash welcomes cleanup crews
Organizers of this year’s annual Trash Bash anticipate warm, dry weather for Saturday’s effort to clean up the shorelines of lakes Hamilton and Catherine, the Ouachita River, and nearby streets.
A part of Keep Arkansas Beautiful and the Great Arkansas Cleanup, up to 700 people have participated in the cleanup in recent years, including Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, 4-H Clubs, ROTC units, organizations and individuals.
Since its inception in the late 1980s, the Trash Bash has expanded from Hot Spring County to include Garland County.
“They’ll clean up the area around check stations, anything in that area because it’s not just a lake cleanup. Everything in the streets and ditches will end up in the lakes. This is a broad community cleanup,” said Kimberly Bogart, Trash Bash Council treasurer.
Before setting out to do litter control, participants can sign up at one of the nine check stations to sign in and receive trash bags and gloves. Cleanup is from 8-11 a.m. and is open to all ages. Trash pickers are allowed, but are not provided by check stations. For a full list of check stations, visit http://www.arkansastrashbash.org.
“Dress accordingly. With the weather predictions, the weather is going to be really nice. Wear nice soled shoes to be comfortable because you are walking around in areas where you can’t really see well and don’t want to step on a rock or a piece of glass,” said Clint Coleman, Trash Bash Council chairman. “Wear nice clothing that you can work in without having to worry about it getting torn.”
An after party will be hosted at Garvan Woodland Gardens, 550 Akridge Road, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with lunch, T-shirts, awards and prices at the Klipsch Amphitheatre.
“This is a family event. Garvan Woodland Gardens allows people who participated in the event to walk around the gardens that day for free,” Bogart said. “Then, we have the six educational booths where the kids can go.”
Awards will include most trash picked up and most unusual item found. Raffle tickets will also be distributed to participants at check stations based on how much trash and or the size of litter turned in. For example, Bogart said a recliner may go for five or more raffle tickets.
“I’ve seen people bring in boat motors, half-sunken canoes. … It’s amazing what you can find when you go, ‘What is that?’” Coleman.
Top prizes include a laptop computer, television, rods and reels among other prizes.
“It’s a great family event that eliminates a lot of the litter. We would like to see our litter collections go down each year. Thinking that if we are picking up litter and people are learning not to throw things out, our goal would be to have less litter collected each year. It’s not necessarily happening that way, but we are doing what we can,” Bogart said.
“One of the really neat things about this event is getting the children involved. When they have to pick up the trash, they will teach their friends ‘Don’t do that (litter) because we had to go pick up the trash.’ So it does spread that way. Maybe it will help them not litter later,” Coleman said.