MILWAUKEE — Now that all of the snow is gone, we can see all of the trash that litters our neighborhoods. A citywide clean-up effort called Big Clean MKE is set to take place on Saturday, which is Earth Day.
"Our goal is to have a bucket and a picker on every resident home in the City of Milwaukee," said Travis Landry, Regional Vice President of WestCare Wisconsin.
For the first time ever, Big Clean MKE is expanding beyond the Harambe Neighborhood and into every neighborhood in Milwaukee with the help of more than a dozen community-based organizations.
"Our goal is to get the faith and hope back in our residents and let them know we don't support illegal dumping, we don't support trash in our neighborhoods," said Landry.
Landry added that a clean neighborhood is essential to the health of the people who live there.
"It gives you a better quality of life," he said. "I remember growing up, before my dad went to cut the grass, we had to pick up the trash. People see a clean environment and it makes them think better, act better, do better."
Landry said it was Milwaukee Alderman Russell Stamper who suggested involving more organizations on both the north and south sides of the city to participate in this citywide Earth Day clean-up effort. He hopes it gets more neighbors involved in reporting concerns to the city and keeping spaces clean and safe.
"We do have some work to do with the city," said Landry. "When it comes to (The Department of Public Works), or when it comes to trash collection, or when it comes to illegal dumping, we want to be able to go back to Alderman Stamper and let him hear all the complaints that the city is actually having about keeping the City of Milwaukee clean so that we can fix the problems."
It's an event that could have an impact beyond Earth Day by encouraging people to care about their neighbors and their neighborhoods in the beautiful City of Milwaukee.
The clean-up event starts at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday morning at various sites across the city. Learn more HERE.
The event is in memory of Greg "Ziggy" Zyszkiewicz, a city employee who was killed back in 2017.
All clean-up tools and supplies will be provided.
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