It’s shaping up to be a lovely weekend, and a great way to take advantage of this gorgeous spring weather in Austin is to participate in the Keep Austin Beautiful Clean Sweep. The annual event is happening this Saturday, April 9 from 9-11am.
The city-wide service day covers more than 130 cleanup sites and 31 zip codes across the Austin area. Previous cleanups have seen a total of 29 tons of trash removed by 4,000 volunteers with a total of 8,700 service hours. This is a great event for volunteers of all ages, as well as groups.
Site and leader registration is now closed, but you can still register to join one of nearly 50 sites that have already registered — pre-registering makes sure you get a t shirt to pick up at the appreciation party. Following the cleanup is a giant Volunteer Appreciation Party at Fiesta Gardens from 11am to 1:30pm with live music from The Gents, free lunch, drinks, snacks, and other treats, door prizes, and fun and educational exhibits. At 1pm, Fusebox Festival will present The Biodiversity of Texas performance by Animal Facts Club, an interactive performance full of puppets, costumes, and more that explore the wildlife and ecology of Texas.
What should you expect from a cleanup? Well, be prepared for anything, and make sure to keep yourself safe from all of the elements. Wear close-toed shoes, sunscreen, insect repellant, and bright clothing to ward against those pesky auto accidents. Hats and sunglasses are helpful, too. Your site leaders will provide trash bags, gloves, some safety vests, trash grabbers, a recycling cheat sheet, bug spray, and sunscreen, but if you have your own at home, be sure to bring them.
Keep Austin Beautiful told us today that they are currently in need of more volunteers for the appreciation party, so if you don’t want to get down and dirty, this is another great way to help out. Scroll to the middle of the Volunteer Opportunities list to find a variety of fun volunteer jobs that include Compost Rangers, Party Photographer, and Band Helper, among others.
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Featured photo from Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons licensed.
