Pitching in to clean up Somerville’s forgotten spaces, volunteers shared a sense of accomplishment and duty to community.

On Friday, September 23, Groundwork Somerville engaged Tufts University Volunteers in an effort to clean up Somerville in our second annual Green-a-thon.  Students volunteering through “Repair the World Service Day” met Groundwork Somerville representatives at two sites in the city that have been flagged “dirty” by community members.  The event was made possible thanks to the support of Apex Green Roofs,  www.raymondzonghetti.com, and Somerville’s Department of Public Works.

In planning the event, Groundwork Somerville was pleased to discover how hard it was to find a truly dirty plot of land in the city.  Thanks to the hard work of employees of the Department of Public Works, Somerville’s parks and streets are cleaned very regularly and do not seem to accumulate trash.  The sites in the city that need clean-up assistance are the vacant and unclaimed spaces.

One team diligently picked up trash in a vacant lot adjacent to the Healey School and near Groundwork Somerville’s Healey School Garden.   Upon completion of this task, they moved across the black top to pick up trash and remove invasive Japanese Knotweed from the sloped area between the school and Mystic housing development. The second team worked hard to clean the steep wet forested slope behind the Somerville High School and the Commuter Rail tracks.  Within two hours, 18 bags of trash, 10 bags of recycling, and 4 yard waste bags were filled!  Groundwork Somerville would like to thank Apex Green Roofs,  www.raymondzonghetti.com, Somerville’s Department of Public Works, the Alpha Phi Sorrority, Groundwork Somerville’s National Park Preservers, and Repair the World Service Day for making this Green-a-thon possible.

– Tai Dinnan