Another Awesome Great Islands Cleanup in the Books!

On April 22, Earth Day, 66 Orcas volunteers picked up 1,160 pounds of trash from the roadsides and beaches of the island. It was part of the 10^th annual spring Great Islands Cleanup (GICU). Since the GICU started in 2014, 11.57 tons of trash have been cleaned up on Orcas alone.

On Orcas the event is managed by ORS/The Exchange. But the bulk of the cleanup work is now done by the phenomenal ‘Crow Valley Posse,’ a volunteer group of over 30 residents led by the incredible Ginger Moore and Nancy Schafer.

Afterwards volunteers were rewarded for their efforts with pints of beer at Island Hoppin’ brewery, received some cool baseball caps thanks to Island Market, and even some spruce tree starts from Wells Nursery in Mt Vernon.

The whole County participates in the GICU now. This April 4,574 pounds of litter was cleaned up on Shaw, Orcas, San Juan, Stuart, Decatur, Sucia, and Lopez Islands.

You too can get involved at the next cleanup! The Fall 2023 Cleanup is scheduled to take place on September 23^rd.