CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Earth Day events took place throughout the city Saturday as volunteers joined city workers to clean and plant all over Chicago.
Volunteers in Englewood cleaned up vacant lots near 70th and Carpenter Streets, including Tamitrias, who was there with the group Teamwork Englewood.
“Beautification projects and space activation help to deter crime,” she said. “The unintentional benefits of cleaning your space are reshaping the narrative of your community and taking back what’s ours — and holding people accountable for picking up things that they throw down.”
Tia, a volunteer with another organization called Imagine Englewood, was raking up garbage from property
“It’s important for us to clean our community because it feels good, and when you feel good, you look good — and you just perform better,” Tia said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined the volunteers and picked up a rake, herself.
“It’s obviously incredibly important — the work that is actually done — but the symbolism of coming together with community, I think, is worth its weight in gold,” she said.
The mayor added that people all over the world were participating in Earth Day cleanups as a way to “show their support and appreciation of the delicate time that we’re living in with the climate crisis.”
The Department of Streets and Sanitation said there were more than 120 volunteer groups taking part in clean-ups throughout the city — despite the rain and snow.
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