Organize a group to pick up trash and clean the parks, roadways, streams and riverbanks.

Work with your friends or co-workers, meet your neighbors, and celebrate your community.

Groups will be volunteering all over Rochester and surrounding towns and villages!

Delta Labs and Friendly's Restaurants will provide bags for your clean-up and instructions on when and how you can help.

Last year nearly 1000 volunteers ...individuals, families, Scouting groups, school and community educational programs, service organizations and nature clubs participated and collected 400 bags of garbage...

We'd love to have your group included this year.

Look at these happy people...know why they're smiling? They accomplished something they're proud of, and now they get to go eat ice cream sundaes at Friendly's! Find out how you can, too...

To Find Out More:

What's it all about?
WHEN is it?
Where should we clean up?
HOW DO WE SIGN UP?
WHAT YOU NEED for your cleanup:
What should we do with the trash after the cleanup?
To get your coupons for a free Sundae
How will this protect our waterways?

What's it all about?

Volunteer to organize a rewarding project that will serve your community and the environment! It just takes a few hours of your time to help clean up a location of your choice, in your neighborhood. Additional information for planning and carrying out your cleanup is provided in the program brochure.

WHEN is it?

• Groups may choose a date for their cleanup anytime before May 17.
• Register and pick up free garbage bags for your clean-up at Rochester area Friendly's Restaurants from March 22-April 26.

Where should we clean up?

There is (unfortunately) not usually a shortage of areas nearby that need your help. Scout around for a location that you'd like to see improved. These areas may be stream banks, a lakeside beach, an abandoned lot with overgrown weeds, a littered park or recreational area, or a trashed roadway. When selecting a site, keep in mind accessibility, rest rooms, and the presence of poison ivy.

• If on private land, you will need to get the owner's permission.
• If on public land, make your intensions known to the town or state agency responsible for the property.

HOW DO WE SIGN UP?

• You can register at Rochester area Friendly's® Restaurants between March 22 and April 26. You can also print out the form , to fill out and bring to your nearest Rochester area Friendly's® during that time frame.
• When you give the completed form to the Friendly's® employee at the front counter, you will receive free garbage bags for your clean up.
• Need help finding a Friendly's® near you? Click on the locations below for maps.

WHAT YOU NEED for your cleanup:

• Cleanup report form (see link below)
• First aid kit
• Orange cones at any trash collection site along a road.
• Life jackets for very young volunteers if you're working near water.
• Camera and film
• Work gloves
• Trash bags (available from Rochester area Friendlys® locations when you sign up there.)
• Rakes, shovels and/or pitchforks
• If you are near water, waders, high rubber boots, old shoes or sneakers
• Insect/tick repellent
• Refreshments

What should we do with the trash after the cleanup?

Dumpsters will be available at Rochester area Friendly's® parking lots, thanks to our Friendly's® supporters. Often you can enlist the town's support for trash pickup.

We encourage you to recycle items that can be recycled. For a list of recyclable materials, see http://www.monroecounty.gov/des-residentialrecycling.php

To get your coupons for a free Sundae

Clean-up Report Form

Mail in the completed report form to:

Delta Laboratories
410 White Spruce Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14623

Be sure to indicate where you'd like us to mail your coupons.
If you need more information, contact Linda Driscoll: ldriscoll@adopt-a-stream.org or call 585-234-1726.

How will this protect our waterways?

Cleaning human debris from the environment does more than simply make it look better.

• It helps protect aquatic life that may view waste as food or a place to live,
• It helps curbs pollution, and the spread of disease.
• People treat trash-free areas with greater respect and care.

Waste enters a stream in a number of ways. Storm drains collect storm water from our neighborhoods, parking lots and other public areas, and this water is not treated before it reaches our local waterways. This means that garbage that ends up in a storm drain is washed directly to our streams and rivers. Litter from recreational use and sometimes intentional dumping also pollutes our water resources.

Our waterways provide us with fresh drinking water, great recreational opportunities, and a welcome respite for our busy lives. Let's do our part to preserve and protect them.