On Saturday, Sept. 12, New Garden Landscaping & Nursery participated in the Greensboro Beautiful Big Sweep with a mixed group of employees & their families, New Garden customers, and even a couple “lost lambs” who failed to find the group they originally signed up with.

For an hour and a half beginning at 9 AM our group picked up plastic bottles and cans, plastic grocery bags (LOTS of grocery bags), discarded lawn chairs, plastic sheeting, fast food soda cups and other trash from a section of a stream tributary of North Buffalo Creek and the surrounding area (behind the Barnes & Noble strip of the Friendly shopping center).

Frequently encountering poison ivy, thick undergrowth, occasional drizzle and one snapping turtle, our group persevered. The final haul was a pickup truck-bed full of trash, plus several trash bags of recyclable material.

According to Greensboro Beautiful, last year’s volunteer count for the Big Sweep was around 500 people, this year they had over 1200 people signed up! It is anticipated that the 2014 Big Sweep collection total of 4 tons will be exceeded. (This post will be updated with the 2015 total once it is posted by Greensboro Beautiful.)

Regardless of the total, the experience was a surprisingly fun opportunity to give back to Greensboro and help to make and keep it beautiful.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

There are many ways to support Greensboro Beautiful! To find out how see their website: www.greensborobeautiful.org

UPDATE: