SALISBURY – The 2012 N.C. Big Sweep cleanup is seeking volunteers to help pick up trash along High Rock Lake next weekend.
This year, Rowan County’s cleanup will be held 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22.
Because of Autumn Jubilee at Dan Nicholas Park, the Rowan County cleanup takes place a few weeks earlier than the statewide N.C. Big Sweep, which will be Oct. 6 this year.
Last year, 16,212 volunteers across North Carolina cleaned more than 1,200 miles and retrieved 386,000 pounds of debris, according to a Big Sweep press release.
That was the equivalent of 1,000 football fields five feet deep in litter.
Volunteers for the Sept. 22 event should meet at the entrance to Dan Nicholas Park to receive bags, gloves and cleanup site information. Groups, families or individuals who want to work together can do so and be assigned to a convenient cleanup site.
Anyone who wants to use a boat for shoreline access is welcome to participate also, and a boat ramp drop-off site is available.
Volunteers should dress accordingly, and wear old, heavy closed-toed shoes or boots (no sandals, slides or flip flops) and bring snacks, water, sunscreen and insect repellent.
Pre-registering is helpful in assigning volunteers to sites, which are N.C. Wildlife public access areas and boating ramps at High Rock Lake.
The North Carolina Big Sweep, which is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, started in 1987 as a coastal cleanup called Beach Sweep. The event was expanded and renamed in 1989, and was the nation’s first statewide waterway cleanup. In 2002, its mission expanded from litter-free waters to a litter-free environment.
In the sweep’s 25-year history, more than 300,000 volunteers have retrieved more than 10 million pounds of debris.
All 100 counties are expected to participate in the cleanup.
N.C. Big Sweep is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works year-round to educate citizens for a litter-free environment. To find out more, go to www.ncbigsweep.org.
For more information or to pre-register, call Rowan coordinator Mike Lambert at 704-216-7833 (office) or 704-232-9866 (cell), or email him at Michael.Lambert@rowancountync.gov.