If you’re driving through town and you see trash along the side of the road, odds are you’re not going to stop and pick it up.
But one Redmond woman decided to do just that.
Jennifer Gottfried held her 2nd annual cleanup event in Redmond on Sunday, gathering some family and friends to pick up trash on the side of 27th street for a few hours.
“We were driving through town one day with my husband, and I just noticed how many cigarette butts and garbage was along the road,” Gottfried said. “From there, I could not stop seeing garbage every time we were driving around. And I decided one day just to do something about it, and my friends and family offered to help.”
The group of seven moved from the Umatilla Sports Complex to the road, using grabbers and trash bags to pick up whatever they could.
She hopes that taking initiative will help inspire others to do the same in their own communities.
“I’m really hoping that the kids that join us will then see that this is how we treat our community, our town, our earth,” Gottfried said. “And they will know in the future not to just throw the garbage and their cigarettes and their water bottles on the ground and recycle the things that they can, and use the trash cans when they can.”
She’s planning another cleanup next spring, and hopes more people will turn out every time.
If you want to stay updated and help Jennifer’s efforts, you can join the Clean Up Redmond Facebook group.
