Will you chip in to support our nonproft newsroom with a donation today?
Yes, I want want to support My Edmonds News!
The Saturday morning drizzle did nothing to deter a dedicated army of local volunteers from answering the call from the Edmonds Parks Department to pitch in to help remove invasive plants, remove litter, and plant new trees in four city parks.
Organized by the city, an estimated 50 volunteers showed up to help with removing litter from Marina Beach and Brackett’s Landing parks, pulling invasive blackberry from the Edmonds Marsh buffer, and planting 120 native trees along the reach of Shell Creek that flows through Yost Park.
The work was directed by staff from parks with support from Sound Salmon Solutions, the Edmonds Tree Board, and the Edmonds Youth Commission.
If you were unable to join in, city staff reminds you that there are still lots of ways to help. Activities like picking up litter that would otherwise wash into storm drains, planting native plants in your yard, and committing to doing away with single-use plastics like water bottles would all help move us to a more sustainable Earth.
— Photos by Larry Vogel
Thanks for being a committed reader and getting to the end of story. To help us tell many more stories in our community, please donate to our newsroom today!
Yes, I want to support My Edmonds News!
What a great event – thanks to all!
Such a demonstration of civic pride and environmental care brought to mind a short article I submitted to MEN in 2018, which seems just as relevant now:
Ever try plogging?
I’d never heard of it until I read an article in The Iceland Review – a paper I took up reading a while ago, both out of interest in Iceland and as a relief from American politics (two summers ago Iceland had the largest turnout for a referendum in its history. The issue? The Mackerel quota. Now, isn’t that a nice change from our own politics?)
But back to plogging. Plogging, it transpires, is a new trend that began in Sweden in 2016 and is both healthy and good for the environment. It has caught on in Iceland, with pictures of the president of Iceland plogging around the Presidential Residence. A Facebook group called Plokk á Íslandi has 1,200 members.
So what is plogging? The word derives from the Scandinavian word that cognates with English “pluck,” and by extension “pick up.” This mashes up with “jogging” – and there you have it: combining jogging (or walking) with picking up litter.
The Iceland Review concludes: “Einar Bárðarson, communications manager of Hafnarfjörður municipality near Reykjavík created the group. He says spring is a great season to go plogging. ‘This is the perfect time, when garbage is prominent and easy to pick up,’ he remarked. ‘It’s easily visible in green areas and a lot of it is showing up now from under the snow. It’s great to be physically active and beautify the environment along the way.’”
Might be a good thing to get started in Edmonds!
Applause for this group of citizens who took this initiative and the support they received from the Edmonds parks department, it is a very good example to follow and generates a great positive impact on our planet earth. Thank you very much – Gustavo Copelmayer, Director of Development, https://gustavocopelmayer.com/