Approximately 500 volunteers from church groups, schools, not-for-profit organizations, the police department, neighbors who organized themselves and others collected tons of trash to start Earth Week in Waukegan over the weekend.
Marty Wozniak started organizing downtown businesses to collect garbage littering the Amstutz Expressway 11 years ago. He started talking to city officials in 2022 about expanding the effort into a citywide cleanup timed around Earth Day, which was celebrated on Monday this year.
“It’s cool to see people come together and grow this more and more each year,” Wozniak said. “Hopefully they will do it throughout the year, not just around Earth Day. If they do, maybe less people will throw the garbage on the highway.”
The volunteers started the third-annual Earth Week Saturday morning in Waukegan, collecting trash of all sorts littering the streets, beach, harbor, downtown and their neighborhoods and putting it in bags to be collected.
For Patricia Hogan, a Wozniak neighbor, spending her Saturday morning working her way up the bluff on the west side of the Amstutz bagging garbage as she went, it was the right thing to do. She said she began several years before Earth Week started.
“When Marty said we were going to clean up the Amstuz, I just had to show up,” Hogan said. “It helps make the city look better.”
Wozniak said the group cleaned the south end of the expressway Saturday, and will continue next Saturday dealing with rubbish on the north side.
Mayor Ann Taylor said she was thrilled with the growth of Earth Week, where events and activities continue through next Saturday and beyond. She and other city officials reached out to faith groups and not-for-profit organizations.
“I was blown away by how many people were out there today,” Taylor said Saturday. “It’s great to see so many people working together to make our community better.”
David Motley, the city’s public relations director, said of the 500 volunteers, roughly half were organized by Christian Neighbors Church. Sara Weibel, the church administrator, said she contacted a number of churches, which got their members involved.
A group from Journey Church in Waukegan was collecting litter on Sheridan Road in downtown Waukegan on Saturday wearing the blue T-shirts each volunteer received. They were gathering at Christian Neighbors for lunch afterward.
Most Blessed Trinity Parish also organized a group to participate.
Members of the Waukegan High School Environmental Club were stationed outside the Brookside campus with 199 small trees they were given to residents who ordered them to plant in their yards. The goal is to neutralize the carbon footprint of the school’s Washington campus.
“They’re all helping to take the carbon out of the air,” Maria Fonseca, a senior and part of the club’s leadership group, said “They’re doing it close to home because the trees will be in their yards.”
On Friday, club members joined with people from the city and Waukegan Park District to release 240 trout into the Waukegan River, which will swim into Lake Michigan further helping the environment.
While Wozniak’s group was working on the Amstutz and most of the other volunteers were removing garbage in downtown Waukegan and points west, city Lakefront Coordinator Lisa May led a group of 100 volunteers cleaning the beach.
May said the group included contingents from USA Bluebook, Waukegan Township’s Eddie Washington Center and the Temporary at American Place casino. Many used grabbers to pluck small items of trash from the sand.
Julie Ivic, American Place’s director of communications, was one of 30 employees from the casino working their way through the Waukegan Dunes along the beach removing trash. She said it is part of the company’s effort to be part of the community.
“We’re helping to make an impact on the beach with this cleanup,” Ivic said. “This is something we’re committed to do in Waukegan, Lake County and the surrounding area.”
Earlier in the day, Motley said 20 people, including members of the Waukegan Police Department’s neighborhood policing division, were cleaning the area around the harbor.
Weekdays of Earth Week will be devoted to placing Dumpsters at strategic locations in each ward on a designated day so people can dispose of unwanted trash. The Dumpsters will be available between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
A Dumpster was scheduled to be in the First Ward at 8th and Adams streets, and at 1525 Dugdale Road in the Second Ward on Monday. On Tuesday, they will be at 100 North Lewis Avenue in the Third Ward, and the corner of Water Street and Sheridan Road in the Fourth Ward.
Fifth Ward cleanup occurs on Wednesday with a Dumpster at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Delaware Road. On Thursday, there will be a Dumpster at 1815 North Sheridan Road in the Seventh Ward and 2255 West Yorkhouse Road in Bevier Park for the Eighth Ward.
On Friday, a Dumpster will be placed at 2650 West Belvidere Road in the Ninth Ward, and in the Sixth Ward at the corner of Hickory Street and Keith Avenue.
Taylor said among the items people can bring to the Dumpsters are tires removed from the rim, and electronics. They cannot bring liquids, tree trunks, concrete, brick, stone, hazardous waste, flammable products, car parts, small engines, paint, stains, railroad ties or yard waste.
Residents dealing with spring cleaning in their yards will have an opportunity to get rid of all of the yard waste at no cost. Taylor said new this year is a two-week yard waste pickup starting Monday during their regular trash pickup.
“This will include unlimited collection of residential yard waste bags, as well as specifically designated yard waste cans not to exceed 50 pounds each, with no stickers required during this time period,” she said.
Sod, dirt, artificial Christmas trees, wreath greenery, garlands and food scraps are not included, Taylor said.
