LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The city of Lexington is looking for volunteers to participate in their Creek Sweep, an effort to help clean up the city’s waterways.
The Kentucky River Clean Sweep normally takes place in August to remove trash from the Kentucky River, but was canceled because of COVID-19.
“It’s just not an event that lends itself well to social distancing, but we didn’t want to do nothing because the waterways are really important to a lot of people in Lexington and they’re important to us,” said Jennifer Wyatt, an environmental initiative specialist with the city.
The Creek Sweep is a chance for Lexingtonians to help protect the city’s creeks while social distancing, according to Wyatt.
“We call it the Creek Sweep but picking up litter anywhere is important because basically if it’s on the ground, it’s in our water,” she said.
Creek Sweep kits filled with gloves and trash bags can be picked up around Lexington through August 16. Volunteers are asked to fill out a post-cleanup survey to help the city gauge the initiative’s environmental impact.
“We don’t really expect anyone to weigh their trash obviously, but if you can tell us how many bags of trash you picked up, that gives us a good idea of how much cleaner we’re making the environment and how many people were involved and what parts of the city people were cleaning up,” said Wyatt.
You can find the nearest place to pick up a cleanup kit here.
