Making a clean sweep during local events this Earth Day weekend

Apr. 19—As Earth Day approaches on Monday, cleanup efforts are taking place at parks and other public places throughout the area this weekend.

There's also an opportunity to get rid of some junk at home.

Electronics recycler Sunnking, Goodwill of WNY and Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls are teaming up to host the area's first Ultimate Spring Cleaning Event on Earth Day weekend. The free collection allows residents to recycle electronics, donate household items or drop off both at the first-of-its-kind drive-thru event.

The event will occur from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday in the parking lot of Saks OFF 5th.

Residents are required to register for a 15-minute appointment window and select what they're dropping off at sunnking.com/events. If the original time allotments fill up, more slots will be added, and the event will be extended to 2 p.m.

"The partnership of Goodwill of Western New York and Sunnking with Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls is a great example of community-minded businesses and non-profit organizations using their individual expertise to work together and make a real difference," said Thomas Ulbrich, president and CEO of Goodwill of Western New York. "Not only is it convenient to have everyone in one place but donors can have the confidence that any item they bring will be recycled responsibly or given a second life to benefit people living right in the donor's community."

Teams are unable to accept items not listed on Sunnking or Goodwill's acceptable materials list. Items like freon-containing devices, paint, bulbs, mattresses, batteries and medical equipment will not be collected.

Recyclers who cannot attend the event are encouraged to use Sunnking's free partner site drop-off locator for year-round electronics collection site availability at sunnking.com/dropoff. A list of Goodwill year-round donation sites for clothing, furniture, and household items is available at Goodwillwny.org/donate.

Bond Lake cleanup

There will be an Earth Day cleanup event at Burmaster Park, formerly Bond Lake Park, on Saturday.

Volunteers should meet at the Nature Center behind the Warming House at 2571 Lower Mountain Road in Ransomville at 9:45 a.m. to sign up. Participants are asked to dress warmly with gloves and tools to pick up garbage. Waterproof boots are also recommended.

The clean-up should be done by noon.

Canal Clean Sweep

North Tonawanda will once again be participating in the annual Canal Clean Sweep on Saturday in conjunction with the state Canal Corp. Parks & Trails and the various communities along the 524-mile canal system.

In North Tonawanda, volunteer groups and individuals will meet at the large pavilion at Mayor's Park off Sweeney Street for the clean-up efforts that are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own rakes and gloves; limited extra supplies will be supplied by the City Recreation and Parks department. Lunch will be provided for volunteers.

The city of North Tonawanda is one of many other communities, not-for-profit organizations, civic groups, businesses, and social clubs taking part in nearly 100 cleanup and beautification events along the Canal System and the Canalway Trail.

Several community groups in Lockport, starting in the West End, will be grabbing the rakes and gloves in an effort to do some spring cleaning along the canal.

Kathy O'Keefe, owner of the Windsor Village Artisan and Antique Market, will be leading a group of about two dozen volunteers for clean up along State Road and Stevens Street on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

This will be the eighth year O'Keefe has organized her cleanup group. She sees it as another way to stoke community engagement for a good cause in the West End of the city.

"I have a hard time not getting involved. Don't throw me a ball and expect me not to throw it," O'Keefe said.

Over at First Presbyterian Church, Pastor Jim Hardy will be leading community cleanup efforts at Upson Park and the Flight of Five on Sunday from noon to 1:30 p.m. Hardy believes the event is something that resonates with both the Lockport community and his church.

"We feel called to do it, in part because it's Earth Day and we feel that the Presbyterian Church is very progressive when it comes to environmental issues," Hardy said.

Having participated in the event for over 15 years, Hardy said their group of 20-30 volunteers have pulled a wide range of items from the canal including shopping carts, bicycles and even a lost dog that was eventually reunited with its owner.

"It was in the water and the kids saved it from drowning," he said.

Jeff Degnan, who organizes the Lockport Canal Task Force at the Erie Canal Discovery Center, has led efforts to clean up the canal and surrounding areas for over 25 years.

For the past couple of years, he said his group has collected the most litter out of any participating groups in the state, filling approximately 30-40 gallons worth of litter in contractor-size garbage bags.

He believes that the annual event has left an impact on the area.

"Every year we've had less and less litter to pick up. The amount of litter and trash is trending downward ... I hope that helps some," Degnan said.

His group will focus on the areas around the Locks and Canal Street from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

For more information about, and to sign up for, any Clean Sweep gathering, go to: https://www.ptny.org/events/canal-clean-sweep.

Reporter Thomas Tedesco contributed to this story.