MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - April 22 is Earth Day, and Meridian Township residents have taken it upon themselves to participate.

Emma Campbell, Meridian Township land stewardship coordinator, created this event to clean up the Township and help the earth.

Earth day cleanup volunteer, Karrie Martiny said, “This is a volunteer opportunity that I thought would be a great thing to do for the environment and I’m excited to do it.”

Focusing on Central Park Drive and the Nancy Moore Wetlands, the team of volunteers walked around picking up trash.

Campbell said, “That whole area is where we find that trash gathers from local businesses and neighborhoods and then it can blow into our wetlands and our parks.”

Two trash pickup times were set, one at 12:30 going until 2:30 and one from 4:30 to 6:30.

While this is the first year for the earth day cleanup it will not become an annual event.

Campbell said, “If you don’t work outside or in nature everyday it can be really hard to connect. So it is important to have a day that we set aside so everyone can really think about this. We’re seeing articles and tips on how we can be a conservationist everyday. It is a really important day.”

Earth day helps promote awareness of the health of our environment. It began 52 years ago on college campuses teaching about climate change and sustainability.