FARMINGTON – Despite a cold, rainy Saturday, more than 30 volunteers showed up for the fourth annual Earth Day clean up held in the downtown area and beyond.
Jody and Chris Palmer started the tradition when they realized they couldn’t do all the work by themselves. It has now evolved to include educational resources, partnerships with other towns, freebies for volunteers and even a small herd of goats.
Groups of volunteers worked not only on the streets of downtown and the University of Maine at Farmington campus, but also tackled the banks of the Sandy River and the West Farmington section of the Whistle Stop Trail. Volunteers in Wilton and Jay pitched in as well to work on their ends of the trail.
The UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition brought a bucket of special guests to educate the public on composting- mounds of red worms doing their work on food scraps. The SCC collects an estimated 2,000 pounds of food waste from UMF’s dining halls each week to bring to a composting facility at the Farmington Transfer Station. The facility is a collaborative project between UMF and the town, collecting food waste from Mt. Blue High School and Mallett School and mixing it with horse manure from the fairgrounds.
In addition to the worms, baby goats were featured at the group’s base camp for people to visit. The goats, owned by Public Works employee Fred Barker, are just one example of how different organizations and town departments have gotten involved with the Earth Day event. The Palmers have found enthusiastic participation from the Downtown Association,the Public Works Department, the Parks and Recreation Department, Renys, UMF and others.
Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers especially the many children who came out in the rain to do their part! And a special thanks to the Public Works crew for their work in keeping Farmington beautiful.