May 2, 2015 2 min read

On April 25, I had the opportunity to clean up garbage around the Jessop exit on Route 70 with 14 other members of the Washington Rotary Club. As I drove home later that day, I saw several other groups doing the same thing in various parts of Washington.

Several thoughts entered my mind:

1) Everyone who is able should join in with their church group, service organization or community group to do a cleanup at least once.

2) Thanks should be extended to all of the groups who get involved in these cleanups.

3) The next time you are in your car or walking by an area and you have a piece of garbage, think before tossing.

4) If you or someone you know has done this cleanup work, you won’t just throw things out on the street or sidewalk.

When we started our work on Saturday, we didn’t think there would be a lot of garbage, but we managed to fill over 30 bags from the entrance and exit ramps, as well as from the hillsides near the exit. There was even more garbage near the overpass, but for safety reasons we didn’t walk out that far onto Route 70.

April 22 was Earth Day. We need to keep our planet clean, starting with our own community. This is a place we should all be proud of, and when people are driving through, I want them to see how beautiful it is, not how much garbage is on the roads.

Richard Podgurski

Washington