GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Wednesday is Earth Day, which is something employees from Aldea Coffee look forward to every year. It's a day when they get out and clean up their communities.
"Last year we had over 300 people come out to the beach and participate with us," said team member Brittany Goode.
The company, which has cafés in Muskegon and Grand Haven and a roastery in Muskegon Heights, was originally going to reschedule its events because of COVID-19, and invite people out in the summer. But then they came up with a better idea.
"A friend of mine goes out and walks consistently and sends me photos every, single day of garbage that he picks up on his hikes," Goode said.
"I thought, well, we can do that. We can post them on Facebook, have people tag us. Maybe we can start to takeover the stream a little bit with something really good and positive that we're using our daily walks for."
The event is open to anyone, not just those on the lakeshore. It began Sunday on Aldea's Facebook page and runs through Saturday. Participants are encouraged to:
- Clean up your local beach, street, park, or backyard.
- Count the pieces of trash you pick up as you put them in your bag or bucket.
- Take a photo of the trash you collected.
- Tag Aldea Coffee and your location on social media.
- Tag three friends or businesses and nominate them to do the same.
"People have picked up probably close to 100 pounds of trash already and it’s only the third day," Goode said.
Aldea has teamed up with several other local businesses to offer prizes for those who participate.
"I think the prizes that the different businesses have added just kind of also shows that a lot of these businesses value this very highly too and would want to be involved in some way as well," said Aldea co-owner Andrew Boyd.
But even more valuable than the prizes, Boyd says, is the feeling of community people who participate will take away from the clean-up.
"We might not exactly be together right now, but there might be some solidarity in knowing that other people are out there involved in the same cause that you are. I think that’s just a really good feeling at this time."
More environmental coverage from 13 ON YOUR SIDE:
- Air, water pollution reduced during COVID-19 pandemic
- Ways you can celebrate Earth Day 2020 amid coronavirus social distancing
- Greenhouses will 'do whatever it takes' to open their doors by May 1
- White House moves to weaken EPA rule on toxic compounds
- EPA stripping rule that encourages coal plants to cut back emissions
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