Earth Day Clean-up/Spring Celebration at Milford Point

The fourth annual Earth Day clean-up and Spring Celebration took place from 10-3 yesterday at the CAS Coastal Center at Milford Point. The Connecticut Audubon Society provided gloves and bags, but many generous people provided invaluable time and effort for a great cause. Nearly 60 people participated in the event, with volunteers coming from all over Connecticut. These caring people included a group of 15 children and five adults from Kennedy School in Waterbury, who did a terrific job cleaning Smith's Point, and 12 people from Trumbull Church Youth Group.

Youngsters helping out!

CAS teacher/naturalist Amy Zvonar and teacher Jesus Tirado.

Children are always a big focus of this effort. Many families were involved this year once again. Apart from removing piles of garbage, many of the adults were put to work removing invasive plants such as honeysuckle, black locust, burning bush, autumn olive, and tree of heaven. This is extremely important to the Milford Point ecosystem, and everyone did a great job.

Invasive plant removal.

CAS Coastal Center Director Frank Gallo.

We have to thank our exceptionally generous sponsors, Shoprite, an annual sponsor of this event, and Whole Foods, a first-time sponsor, for providing food, beverages, and clean-up supplies. None of this could be accomplished without their help. Eight people from the Whole Foods Green Team participated as well, removing quite a lot of invasive plants from along the dunes and road.

Whole Foods Green Team removing invasive plants.

The good news is that perseverance pays off - the team removed only one small truckload of trash compared to 2.5 tons four years ago.



Thank you once again to everyone who made this year's event such a big success!

Photos © Frank Gallo.