Wake residents of all ages are invited to volunteer for the 2013 Wake County Big Sweep starting Wednesday, September 11, through Saturday, October 12. The 2013 Fall Big Sweep schedule is available at wakegov.com.
Volunteers will gather at 21 designated watershed sites to collect litter in Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Morrisville, Raleigh, and north and south Wake County. All cleanups are listed by date, then alphabetically by municipality and watershed. Each site description provides registration information, age limitations, times and directions to the site.
Zone Captains at each site will provide gloves, trash bags, recycle bags and Big Sweep data cards to track the type and amount of trash collected. The data is compiled statewide by North Carolina Big Sweep and entered into an international database with the Ocean Conservancy. The data is used to target specific audiences for litter prevention education.
During Fall Big Sweep in 2012, 1,023 volunteers cleaned 52 miles of shoreline, park land and roadsides at 25 Wake County watersheds, collecting 14,951 pounds of trash and diverting 4,170 pounds of recyclables from the landfill.
Wake Soil and Water Conservation District partners with local municipalities, not-for-profit organizations and North Carolina Big Sweep, a statewide volunteer effort to make watersheds litter free, as well as the Ocean Conservancy which sponsors the annual International Coastal Cleanup in more than 100 countries worldwide.
For more information about 2013 Big Sweep, call 919-250-1065 or visit wakegov.com/swcd/involve/pages/bigsweep/aspx.
