PA Environment Digest

There are nearly 10,000 fewer pounds of litter in northern Erie County after a record 1,321 volunteers pitched in for this year's Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup effort, according to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and the Department of Environmental Protection.

On September 25, volunteers collected and documented 9,980 pounds of trash from 15 sites throughout rural areas of the county and in downtown Erie.

"This year's cleanup again demonstrated that Erie County residents are concerned about the ecological hazards and community eyesore that litter creates," said DEP Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch. "Over the past eight years, these civic-minded individuals have collected a total of 100,686 pounds of carelessly discarded material. This is a huge number and these volunteers deserve our thanks."

Each piece of collected trash was documented on data cards. The results show that this year, volunteers collected: 27,026 cigarette butts and cigar tips; 6,257 beverage containers; 6,715 food wrappers/containers; 5,675 beverage caps/lids/straws; and 3,229 plastic bags.

Burch also noted that this year, for the first time, volunteers separated 4,019 pounds of the trash collected for recycling with the help of the Erie County Recycling Program.

Along with DEP, other agencies, community leaders and organizations helped plan and execute this year's cleanup. Several Erie County schools and colleges also provided more than half of the participating volunteers.

"Litter prevention through public action and education is the goal of this cleanup," said Don Benczkowski, DEP's coastal resources management environmental planner and event coordinator. "We hope that children and young adults who participate in the cleanup will become lifelong advocates for properly disposing of trash and unwanted items."

Over the past eight years, 5,968 local volunteers have collected a total of 274,596 individual items. The information gathered in past cleanups has been used as educational material for environmental programs in local schools and highlighted in the Erie Times-News Newspapers in Education section.

International Coastal Cleanup is the oldest and largest volunteer project of its kind.

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