Story Created:
Apr 25, 2009 at 5:55 PM EST
Story Updated:
Apr 25, 2009 at 6:00 PM EST
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Many local organizations went green this week in Celebration of Earth Day, which was held last Wednesday. In Utica, hundreds of area residents volunteered to clean up our city.
About 150 people, a record we are told helped clean up the Utica Marsh. Many also volunteered to clean up city streets, especially along the Boilermaker Route. Boilermaker Committee member Bill Rabbbia was out and about, "the reason I'm here in West Utica, is I live in West Utica, so I'm contributing to cleaning up my own end of town, but just the appearance of the city."
Kids got to learn firsthand what Earth Day is all about at the Utica Zoo. The Girl Scouts of Herkimer Troop #479 and their troop leaders set up numerous stations around the Zoo. Troop Leader Andrea Hess says anyone who paid admission got to take part, "right here we have the recycled flower pots, we have bird feeders out of pinecones, we have a recycling relay, we have fossils games out of coffee grounds and then we have Earth Day Pendants the girls are making out of recycled paper. To preserve our planet, little steps go a long way to help everybody, can do their part to conserve the Earth and do their part."
Did you know you are not supposed to throw unwanted medications down the toilet anymore. The folks at the Oneida/Herkimer Solid Waste Authority in Utica held yet another Earth Day event to prevent pharmaceuticals from getting in surface water. Director Bill Rabbia says "they've studied surface waters throughout the nation and have found that 80 percent of surface waters they've studied have trace amounts of waste pharmaceuticals.
