The gloves and trash bags are in, and the safety vests are on the way as volunteers gear up for the Great PA Cleanup.
"I've got 2,000 pairs of gloves and trash bags," said Mike "Buzz" Budzanowski, who again is coordinating the cleanup for the state Department of Transportation in Washington County.
Last year, more than 2,300 people volunteered for the cleanup effort in the county. They collected more than 142,000 pounds of trash. The cleanup day this year is set for April 25. Earth Day is April 22.
Pennsylvania started the effort to clean up the state as part of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful in 1978, said Rick Ebeling, manager of highway beautification for PennDOT in Harrisburg. The Great PA Cleanup began five years ago and is held on the fourth Saturday of April.
Ebeling said it involves not only PennDOT but the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the game and boat commissions.
"The weather has a lot to do with it," Budzanowski said. "Last year, we had nice weather, so that helped."
It is not just organizations that participate in the cleanup. PennDOT will pick up the trash bags left along state roads for disposal.
"We had one girl who ended up with about 12 people helping her," Budzanowski said. "We have another group who cleans along Route 40 from the Laboratory exit out to Kopper Kettle. They may go out four or five times to get it all done."
Several school groups also participate. Budzanowski said about 100 students from Charleroi Middle School will be out April 20 and 22 cleaning up along Route 481, Fallowfield Township. Students from Auberle youth home in Chartiers Township plan on cleaning roads as a school project.
Businessman Alex Paris organizes cleanups in the Avella and Burgettstown areas.
This will be the second year the Clean, Safe and Green committee of Highland Ridge Community Development Corp. will participate in the cleanup.
"We are real excited," said Bay Cario, Elm Street manager for HRCDC. "We are expecting a big turnout. Having a clean neighborhood makes such an important overall impression."
Trash bins will be placed in the lot at St. Paul AME Church, at the corner of Gibson and Sumner avenues and in the lot across from NAACP headquarters on Highland Avenue. Waste Management, which is providing the bins at a discount, will place them April 24 and collect them April 27. The newsletter outlines what is not permitted to be placed in the bins.
Anyone interested in participating in the cleanup of the Highland-Ridge area can call the LeMoyne Multi-Cultural Center at 724-228-0260 for more information.
Budzanowski said he also has received 15 new applications from groups interested in the Adopt-A-Highway program. These groups would be responsible for keeping a stretch of a state road clean of trash.
For more information on the cleanup, visit www.pacleanup.org or call 724-223-4480. The Web site gives information on where cleanups are planned.