The third "almost" annual Etna-Sharpsburg Earth Day Challenge was another great success, both for the environment and the strengthening of our collaboration with our closest neighbors. In each community, dedicated residents ventured out in the early hours of April 23rd to clean our streets after a long blustery winter of litter blowing from trash cans and (somehow) flying out of car windows along Routes 8 and 28! Each community was able to fill a 30 yard dumpster with hundreds of bags of trash as they scattered about each borough in their bright green Earth Day t-shirts.
State Representative Sara Innamorato, State Senator Lindsey Williams and County Councilwoman Anita Prizio were on hand to judge the collections, and miraculously, the two communities tied for the third consecutive year! Sharpsburg Mayor Brittany Reno and Etna Mayor Tom Rengers awarded each other the Robert "Snakeguy" Habegger trophy and shared a few words with their constituents on the importance of looking after the environment and taking pride in our communities.
We were thrilled to be able to gather after the cleanup this year at a post cleanup celebration held at the new Etna Riverfront Trail and Park. Stunt Pig and La Palapa food trucks were on hand and live music was performed by Sierra Seller and her band under a brilliant April sun. The two communities also teamed up with Tree Pittsburgh for a tree giveaway at the event.
The Etna-Sharpsburg Earth Day Challenge is one of our favorite events of the year as it incorporates everything we love about living in the Triboro EcoDistrict: environmental stewardship, collaboration with our neighboring communities, and celebrating with our neighbors. We look forward to hosting the event again next year!