The City of Springfield and partner organizations are relaunching the Clean Green Springfield initiative with a fresh series of city-wide cleanup and beautification activities planned during April and May. Individuals, families, businesses and service organizations are invited to roll up their sleeves and participate in one or more opportunities including roadside trash pickups, stream cleanups, planting and mulch events, neighborhood cleanups and more. Special disposal opportunities will also be offered for items that are difficult for residents to dispose of, including mattresses, tires, and household chemicals.
Since launching in 2021, Clean Green Springfield has engaged more than 2,000 volunteers contributing more than 2,500 service hours to cleanup and beautification activities, and removing more than 25 tons of litter from streets and waterways. The program has also aided in the responsible disposal of more than 200 tons of trash and bulky items that might otherwise be dumped along roadways.
“The community made such an impact with Clean Green Springfield in 2021 not only with how much litter and trash we collected, but in how many people came together and connected toward a common purpose,” explains Director of Public Information and Civic Engagement Cora Scott. “The City and our partners are officially issuing a challenge to the community to make Clean Green 2023 even bigger and more impactful. If we each do our part, Springfield will continue to be the beautiful city we know it to be.”
The Problem:
In 2019, Environmental Services completed a trash assessment analyzing Springfield streams. They found on average 155 pieces of trash in a 100-foot stream section (628,324 total in Springfield area streams). Nearly 60% of trash found in streams is plastic and on average there were 14 cigarette butts found in the stream (57,797 cigarette butts in Springfield area streams).
Citizens reported to the Citizen Resource Center more than 1,000 complaints about trash and debris in the right-of-way and more than 2,000 trash-related nuisances on private property in 2019.
Why is this happening? Where is this trash coming from?
The simple answer is, it’s coming from ALL OF US.
- Litter is intentionally tossed out windows or unintentionally blows out of uncovered trailers and truck beds.
- Businesses and residences leave dumpsters and bins unmanaged and often overflowing.
- Residents choose to dump their household waste and bulky items in an illegal location because they may not have the resources to properly dispose of it.
Why this matters!
What goes on our streets ends up in our streams. Keeping water resources clean starts with putting trash in its place – the trash can!
Litter in our community gets washed into storm drains when it rains and ends up in our streams. Based on local stream assessments, it’s estimated that there are over 600,000 pieces of trash in Springfield streams, 60% of which is plastic. Cigarette butts are also a commonly littered item with an estimated 50,000 butts in local streams. Trash affects the use and enjoyment of waterways and trails for popular recreational activities and is a source of pollution that impacts water quality, aquatic life and animals.
Learn more from the Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This is also a community pride issue…
Taking pride in our community means taking responsibility and each doing our part. It means looking around at our habits as individuals, neighborhoods, organizations, businesses, and as a community and getting involved and making a change.
CLEAN GREEN 2023 EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Registration is now open for Clean Green 2023 volunteer events and opportunities. All details and a simple registration process can be found at CleanGreenSGF.com.
Roadway & Stream Cleanups (Pick the time and date that fits your schedule!)
More than 120 sections of littered roadway and many area streams are in need of cleanup.
Successful Adopt-A-Street, Adopt-A-Stream and Adopt-A-Highway programs in our community engage volunteers to conduct periodic cleanups of their adopted segments. Through these programs committed volunteers keep our city’s roadways and streams free from litter and debris. The City provides the trash bags, volunteers say when and where to pick them up when filled.
Register for a one-time cleanup of any of the segments in need and a volunteer coordinator will help connect you up with a roadway or stream segment in need or you can suggest your own cleanup location. Hundreds of dedicated teams already committed to adopted areas are also encouraged to conduct a cleanup during the spring initiative.
Adopt-A-Street includes 251 volunteer organizations adopting more than 139 miles of street. These groups collectively gather 2,000 bags of trash from city roadways per year. Adopt-A-Stream program volunteers remove 500 bags of trash on average from over 10 miles of stream per year.
Point of Pride Events
On certain Saturdays in April and May, the City will host a cleanup at a location significant to Springfield. Bring your team to lend a hand to make these locations the point of pride they are.
9 a.m. – noon | Saturday, April 15 – Kansas Expressway Cleanup (Kearney to Republic Road)
Kansas Expressway is a significant thoroughfare in our community, carrying thousands of vehicles per day in and out of Springfield. It also regularly accumulates trash and is consistently in need of a cleanup. Teams will assemble at various access points along Kansas to tackle different sections of the Expressway from Kearney Street to Republic Road.
9 a.m. – noon | Saturday, May 6: Jordan Creek at Main Avenue
Help clean up a section of Jordan Creek in Downtown Springfield.
9 a.m. – noon | Saturday, May 20: Wilson’s Creek at Scenic Avenue
This section of Wilson’s Creek passes nearby Ewing Sports Complex and flows alongside the Wilson’s Creek Greenway Trail. Parking at Ewing Sports Complex.
May 27: POSSIBLE RAIN DATE
Mark this date on your calendar as a possible rain date in case rain or other inclement weather causes a Point of Pride cleanup cancellation.
Beautification Events
A number of planting, mulch spreading and general beautification events will be held throughout the month of April, including landscaping in roadway medians and in the City’s rights of way.
Sunset Median Beautification – 8 a.m. – noon | April 1, 8, 15, 29
The roadway medians located on Sunset Street between Fremont and National were included as a previous beautification project. Now more than 5,000 plants are ready to go in the ground along with weeding, mulch spreading and general site cleanup. This project will take multiple days of dedicated volunteer work. Sign up to help one or more weekends until it’s done!
Route 66 Mulch Madness – 8-10 a.m., Saturday, April 1
Help clean up litter, spread mulch and do some replanting in two medians along an original section of Route 66 at College and Scenic.
Airport Boulevard Beautification – 7:30 – 10:30 a.m., Saturday, April 22
Help plant 1,000 plants and spread mulch in the landscaping areas just north of the roundabout on Airport Boulevard near the Springfield-Branson National Airport.
Cherry & Pickwick Mulch Madness – Date & Time TBD
Join the business owners and residents of Cherry and Pickwick as they spread mulch and cleanup and beautify the area.
Clean Green Springfield is a program of the City of Springfield and its partners: Community Partnership of the Ozarks, and KY3/KSPR/CW.
To receive notifications about Clean Green Springfield activities, visit CleanGreenSGF.com.
For more information, contact Cora Scott, Director of Public Information & Civic Engagement, at 417-380-3352 or cscott@springfieldmo.gov or Kristen Milam, Communications Coordinator, at 573-819-3713 or kmilam@springfieldmo.gov.