The city Solid Waste Management Department celebrated Earth Day by inviting residents of Albuquerque to help clean up Duke City.
"Today's Earth Day, so no better way to celebrate the Earth than to take care of it," department director Matthew Whelan told KOAT.
An estimated 700 volunteers and more than 40 neighborhood associations turned out in force to take part in picking up litter, and debris. Men, women, and children from all sectors took part in beautifying city parks and sidewalks. City employees also got involved with some using trucks and dumpsters to remove heavier trash and debris.
Cleaning up the city is a daily function of the Solid Waste Department, but Earth Day is a reminder that anyone can get involved. The Earth Day cleanup was spread over four Saturdays in April the two previous years due to help with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, it was a much-anticipated one-day event on Earth Day. Another big city-wide cleanup will be held just before the Balloon Festival in early October. But everyone’s duty to keep the city clean never really ends.
"I'd like to say that if you weren't able to participate today, you can always sign your neighborhood up throughout the year," Whelan said. "Just go to our website. It really is a One Albuquerque effort between not only the city, but the residents of the city of Albuquerque to keep Albuquerque beautiful."
Contact the Solid Waste department online to arrange for the city to help with neighborhood cleanup.
Since 1970 Earth Day has provided a voice to the environmental consciousness, and brought environmental concerns to the forefront. The publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962 proved to be a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and helping raise public awareness and concern for living organisms.