2024 Community Roadside Litter Pick-Up Day
When: Saturday, April 20
Who: You and your family and friends
Where: Pick any road you like in Charlestown to pick up roadside litter
What: The town is providing the blue bags starting April 15, and the transfer station and fire stations will accept them without charge on April 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There is a small group of people in our community, or those driving through Charlestown, who throw their drink and food containers out of their car windows. The result is an accumulation of litter along the roadsides.
There are many of you who already pickup roadside litter as you take an afternoon walk or you may continuously clean the litter tossed in front of your property. Litter Pick-up Day is a chance to get more people involved and raise awareness about this issue by offering free trash bags and free disposal for those who volunteer.
Tell your friends or organize a neighborhood pickup effort. Seeing people out picking up litter on April 20 might send a message to those who create the litter in the first place.
You can of course pick up litter at any time! April 20 will be an amnesty day for your blue bags of roadside litter at the transfer station.
A special thank you to Charlestown resident Warren Schwartz for bringing this great idea to the Town’s attention over seven years ago and for all his help throughout the years helping to organize the event.
Details on where to get the bags and more are below.
- Blue bags can be picked up until April 19 at Town Hall, Quonnie Farms, and at Compass Hardware.
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- Town Hall: hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bags will be at the Town Clerk’s office.
- Compass Hardware: 8 Ridgewood Road. Hours: Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 8 a.m. to Noon.
- Quonnie Farms : 16 West Beach Road. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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- Wear bright colored clothing, such as blaze orange.
- Wear work gloves to protect hands from potentially harmful items.
- Please do not clean up or walk on Rt. 1 or any road you feel is unsafe.
- Please drop off your bags on April 20 at the transfer station (50 Sand Hill Rd.) or at either of the three fire stations (4377 South Country Trail, 4258 Old Post Road, or 5664 Post Road).
- If dropping off at a fire station, please leave bags in rear of station, near dumpster and please do not block the gate of the dumpster area.
- If dropping off at transfer station, please leave bags in designated areas.
The banner image is a photo of thousands of nips collected from road side litter last year from South Kingstown’s and other roads. Thanks to Pick Up South Kingstown for the image and who report that over 80,000 nips were collected last year in just 90 days.
March 30, 2024 @ 10:38 am
This is a rewarding way to help the roads look clean again, albeit temporarily. It’s such a shame people in this day and age still litter! I will never understand why. Yes, my husband and I go out every few days to pick up the mess on our nearby streets. We will join in on April 20th too. Please be safe, we’ve had a few close calls over the years. Many thanks to all that help.