Georgia's Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Witnesses Success from Earth Day to Waterways

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - June 13, 2024 - PRLog -- With a jam-packed roster of programs and events that run the gamut from Adopt-A-Road to Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days, after 44 years since its launch, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (GC&B) practically runs like a well-oiled machine. At the same time, the eco-focused nonprofit continues to innovate, consistently seeking improvement from one event – and year – to the next. That commitment to advancement was most recently exemplified in two annual springtime events – the Earth Day Recycling Event and Great Gwinnett Wetlands 2024.

Hosted at Coolray Field on April 27, GC&B's annual Earth Day Recycling Event engaged an unprecedented number of neighbors who arrived in 1,818 vehicles. In a matter of three hours, a little over 120 volunteers collected 2.25 tons of textiles, 10,162 gallons of paint, 12 tons of tires, 18 tons of paper, 3 tons of cardboard, and 24 tons of electronics. Combined, that's more than 72 tons diverted from local landfills, roughly seven times the weight of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. In addition, for the first time during the annual event, the Gwinnett County Police Department collected eight yard waste-sized bags of expired or unwanted prescription and OTC medications. That's a large portion of the 575 pounds of medications collected throughout the county as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative. Given the response, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful hopes to make this an annual offering to county residents during future Earth Day events.

Marking the 10^th year since its launch, Great Gwinnett Wetlands proved another resounding success for Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (www.GwinnettCB.org) during its observation on May 4. A cleanup event historically involving one wetland site was expanded to three for the first time – including Sweetwater Creek at Omega Drive, Bethesda Park, and Beaver Ruin Wetlands. Over the course of four hours, 78 volunteers fanned out over the three locations. At two sites, they collected a combined 3,255 pounds of litter, including tires, car parts, pallets, and even toy cars. At the third site, volunteers removed a quarter acre of privet – invasive plants that choke the health of the wetland.

The next event on Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful's calendar is the second Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day of 2024. It will be hosted at Gwinnett County Fairgrounds on July 20 from 8-11 a.m. During the three-hour event, GC&B and its partners at Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources will collect a variety of household hazardous waste. To learn what items will be collected or register as a volunteer, visit https://gwinnettcb.org/events/household-hazardous-waste-collection-day/.