This weekend, focus on cleaning up Santa Fe
To all who complain about trash and the need to clean up Santa Fe: This is your moment. The fall Santa Fe Beautiful cleanup — Toss No Mas 2021 — takes place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, but participants must register ahead of time to take part. Register at https://tinyurl.com/ ce8sacv7. Then, go to the Keep Santa Fe Beautiful offices, 1142 Siler Road, Building C, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday to pick up supplies.
The effort is designed to focus on public spaces, so when registering, tell staffers where you will be and where you will leave trash to be collected. In the past, people have gathered in places such as Frenchy’s Field Park, cleaning the area but also walking along the Santa Fe River trails to remove litter and debris.
Volunteers also might want to tackle
Franklin Miles or Swan parks, or even simply sweep the blocks around their homes.
Don’t have an area in mind? Just put “area identified by KSFB” in the registration, and staffers will send you to a place that needs refreshing.
This is an opportunity for the community to come together, with people wearing masks and gloves and keeping their distance, to help our town become a better version of itself.
Considering the increase in litter everyone has noticed, Keep Santa Fe Beautiful, nonprofits and governments may want to think about ways to expand the twice-a-year cleanups.
Continue the massive spring and fall citywide efforts, but consider adding neighborhoods, perhaps quarterly, in different areas of the city.
Individual groups, such as the Santa Fe
Watershed Association, routinely do spot cleanups of arroyos and along the river. More such initiatives can make a difference across the city.
Go after litter year-round, both by conducting trash pickup efforts but also by looking at policy changes that reduce waste. We’ve mentioned some before — placing more trash cans out, adding additional free dump days, increasing fines for dumping and littering and reintroducing anti-litter campaigns in public schools.
Getting ahead of the litter problem is going to take time and concentrated effort.
For people who aren’t taking part in the citywide event, this weekend could become an opportunity for cleaning private spaces. Join in at home.
The crisp weather is perfect for working in the yard and taking the junk to a landfill where it belongs.
To make disposing of trash the right way more attractive, it’s fall free-trash day. That means city and county residents can dump a free load from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Saturday at the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station and Caja del Rio Landfill. This is a popular event, so expect a wait, and make sure loads are covered with a tarp. Taking trash to the dump shouldn’t lead to more litter on the roads. Take the extra effort to tie down loads. That’s how we stop litter before it starts.
Part of keeping Santa Fe beautiful includes changing the attitude toward litter — everything from individuals tossing food wrappers on the ground to folks who take an unwanted couch and leave it in the closest arroyo. Individual behaviors add up. Community efforts make a difference. Together, we can reduce litter and help our city shine.