Friday, April 22 is Earth Day and there are plenty of ways people can celebrate in South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough.
South Portland
On Earth Day, the South Portland Land Trust will host a virtual En-ROADS Climate Workshop with speaker Sam Allen, a professor emeritus of materials science and engineering at MIT. (En-ROADS stands for Energy-Rapid Overview and Decision-Support.)
The following day, the land trust is sponsoring a community cleanup from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We’ve done some kind of cleanup every year for at least the last 15 years,” said Alex Redfield, land trust president. “What’s new this year is we are trying to have three different hubs across the city.”
Volunteers can gather at Mill Creek Park or at the parking lot outside Dock’s Seafood at Evans Street and Broadway for cleanups along the Greenbelt, or at the Cinemagic parking lot at Clarks Pond to clean up the South Branch Trail. Supplies will be provided at the meeting spots.
Redfield encourages residents who are unable to make it to one of the organized cleanups to clean up in their own neighborhoods.
On the afternoon of April 23, the land trust will be conducting trail maintenance at Clark’s Pond Trail, and on April 24 it is hosting a Trout Brook walk and education session.
For more about the events, including how to register, visit southportlandlandtrust.com.
Cape Elizabeth
In coordination with the town’s public works department, Cape Elizabeth Land Trust will be hosting a two-week cleanup effort from April 22 to May 1.
“We’re sort of doing a hybrid event,” said Philip Mathieu, the land trust’s program coordinator.
People can volunteer throughout the week “or you can join in with sort of the main event on April 30th,” he said.
The April 30 “main event” is a community cleanup from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers will meet at the land trust’s office at 330 Ocean House Road, where they will receive supplies and be divided into groups.
Throughout the two-week period, volunteers are encouraged to conduct neighborhood cleanups or choose from a list of locations the land trust has prioritized.
The public works department will help out by picking up bags at nine locations on April 25 and May 1.
For a list of bag drop-off locations and how to register, visit capelandtrust.org.
Scarborough
The Maine Audubon, in partnership with the Friends of Scarborough March and Eastern Trail Alliance, will be conducting a cleanup at the Scarborough Marsh on April 23 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Audubon has also partnered with Project G.R.A.C.E. to collect food at the cleanup. Volunteers are encouraged to bring nonperishable items or a store gift card to donate.
The Scarborough Land Trust will hold a clean-up of its own on May 7 from 9 a.m. to noon.
To register for the Scarborough Marsh cleanup on April 23, visit mainaudobon.org/events. To register for the land trust’s cleanup on May 7, visit scarboroughlandtrust.org/events
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