‘Lose The Litter’ Volunteers Pick Up Two Tons Of Trash

By Andrew Gorosko

Large black plastic garbage bags and heavy white cotton work gloves were the order of the day last Sunday as town residents tackled litter cleanup along 50 local roads to beautify the landscape and build community spirit.

Jerome Mayer, chairman of “Lose the Litter Day” for the Newtown Lions Club, estimates that 300 people ranging from age 5 to 80 participated in the annual project designed to clear unsightly litter from roadsides and build a sense of community among participants.

The collective effort amassed about 4,000 pounds of household garbage, trash, litter, refuse, and junk, which participants left at the town garage on Turkey Hill Road.

Town Public Works Director Fred Hurley looked across an expanse of black plastic garbage bags Monday morning, taking stock of some of the odd items that were hauled away from roadsides by participants.

Among mounds of beer cans, fast food wrappers, and soda bottles stood a forlorn electric range, a set of rusted-out steel chairs, tires, a commercial sign, and a decaying dehumidifier.

Although the volunteers collected two tons of litter, local illegal dumping problems are not as bad as they once were, Mr Hurley noted.

Increased development has decreased the number of isolated areas and hence reduced the number of remote places which are attractive to illegal dumpers, he said. Mr Hurley pointed to New Lebbon Road in Sandy Hook as an area which formerly had dumping problems due to its isolation, but which now has many new homes and consequently fewer dumping problems.

Mr Mayer said Sunday’s litter pickup effort focused on the Taunton Lake and Hattertown Road areas, with added cleanup work done along Mt Pleasant, Boggs Hill, Great Ring, and Church Hill roads.

The Lions Club and Newtown Junior Woman’s Club, which aided in the Lions’ litter project, had a registration booth for Lose the Litter Day on the front lawn at Newtown Middle School on Queen Street. Participants registered for the areas they would clean in the coordinated roadside beautification project.

The event was the town’s 12th annual Lose the Litter Day. The Newtown Environmental Action Team (NEAT) ran the project for its first six years. The Lions Club has continued it.