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A dedicated group of young adults is in the midst of a nearly two-year mission to make the country a better, cleaner and safer place.
Pick Up America members met with the Morris Creek Watershed Association and concerned local individuals at WVU Tech last week to discuss their movement, which started March 20 in Assateague Island, Md., and is targeted to conclude in November 2011 in San Francisco, Calif.
According to campaign coordinator Davey Rogner, the main goal of the initiative is to pick up trash and inspire a transition toward zero waste.
“Each of us has our own reasons for going on this mission,” said Rogner.
The group’s promotional material points out that Americans produced 250 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2008, and that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that 42 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions come from material management, which includes resource extraction, production of goods, consumption and disposal.
As of last Thursday, Rogner said the group had collected 27 tons of waste on its entire trip, including 6.5 tons in West Virginia. State highways agencies have worked with PUA to collect and dispose of the waste at local landfills.
Members have been in the Gauley Mountain area in recent days and are gradually heading west along U.S. Rte. 60.
As of Thursday, they had covered 535 of the planned 3,600 miles of their journey.
Pick Up America welcomes volunteers, donations and other types of support as it winds its way across the country. To help out or for more information, visit www.PickUpAmerica.org or e-mail them at PickUpAmerica@gmail.com.
— Steve Keenan
