New initiative puts baseball-themed spin on recycling and litter collection
The season runs from May 1 through August 31, 2021
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - City and county leaders announced a new initiative Thursday that will satisfy anyone’s competitive drive and help clean up Toledo and Lucas County.
The Toledo Litter League is looking for teams to sign up for cleaning zip codes of their choice. The teams can have up to 20 participants, with a team captain and a team name. The season runs from May 1 through August 31.
“This another way we are endeavoring to keep Toledo and Lucas County beautiful and litter-free,” Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said. “Toledoans and Lucas County residents care deeply about their community, which is why I am certain this program will be a great success. Toledo Litter League is a competitive, baseball-themed litter abatement program aimed at striking out litter in Toledo and Lucas County.”
Each player must complete a liability waiver, and anyone under the age of 13 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or another responsible adult.
All teams must register their litter cleanups with Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful in advance. Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful will provide each team with equipment that includes safety vests, gloves, litter grabbers, and trash bags.
Teams will score one run for every full bag of litter collected. Team captains will submit a score sheet to report statistics after each cleanup via the Toledo Litter League website. Tires and bulk items will not be included in scoring and cannot be collected during Litter League. If bulky items are found during cleanups, these should be reported on the Toledo Litter League website separately and Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful will coordinate removal.
“As our community grows, I think it’s important to take care of our communal spaces, and our communal resources. And this is one was to do that,” said Adam Cassi, Executive Director for Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful.
More information and how to sign up can be found at toledo.oh.gov/litter-league.
During Thursday’s press conference at Fifth Third Field, Commissioner Gary Byers also announced the launch of a new recycling app, the “Waste Wizard app,” available on both Android and iPhoneFind this resource in the app store by searching “LC Recycles.” Residents can also find Waste Wizard and the Waste Wizard game online at https://www.co.lucas.oh.us/749/Solid-Waste-Management.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and Council Member Nick Komives also announced the city’s commitment to take part in the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge to support monarch and pollinator conservation in the community.
The City of Toledo is also one of the recipients of an EPA Trash-Free Waters Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant. Through this grant, multiple trash capture devices will be installed in waterways within five river miles of Lake Erie to reduce the amount of trash that flows into the lake.
“I think it’s really incredible that we’re not just worrying about litter on our streets, but also to clean up our river system,” said Toledo councilman Nick Komives. “Because ultimately, all of those things end up in Lake Erie where we get out drinking water, and that costs money to treat that.”
Several partners are involved in this project: Partners for Clean Streams, University of Toledo, Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, Toledo Municipal Council of Governments (TMACOG) and Toledo Public Schools (TPS). For more information about this grant, visit the EPA’s website.
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