RAPID CITY, SD—City residents picked up, collected and hauled nearly 850 tons of material during the 54th annual Community Cleanup Week in late April. The total includes approximately seven tons of material collected in pink bags by 114 volunteer teams that fanned out through the community during the week’s cleanup activities.
Rapid City Solid Waste Division officials also report a total of 2,315 residential vehicles passed through the scales at the Rapid City Landfill during the cleanup week event, April 21-25. In addition, officials at ReStore in Rapid City report 640 pounds of materials were recovered rather than buried in the Landfill.
If the average elephant weighs four tons, the tonnage of material crossing the landfill scales during this year’s cleanup week represents the weight of nearly 213 elephants!
“It was another phenomenal week with drivers lined up all week bringing materials to the landfill, and it was an awesome volunteer effort once again by the cleanup teams,” said Solid Waste Education and Outreach Coordinator Ria Hannon. “Teams were out all week cleaning up along fence lines and ditches, along Rapid Creek and along business routes and neighborhoods.”
“I’m always impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the volunteer teams. We had teams of youth, workers from businesses and organizations, neighbors, office workers and seniors,” Hannon said. “They collected tons of material, showing a lot of pride in cleaning up our community.”
This was the 54th year of the Community Cleanup Week in Rapid City.
