More than 300 people participated in the 2022 townwide cleanup and garlic mustard pull. With 91% of the reports in, the number of bags reported in 2022 is the same as in 2021! Volunteers collected 483½ bags of trash and garlic mustard (484 bags reported in 2021) from 63½ miles of Harvard’s 69 miles of roads. Volunteers reported that there is less trash this year and less evidence of dumping. Meanwhile volunteers continue to pull garlic mustard—great news for our environment.
We were fortunate to welcome 29 students from Bromfield’s National Honor Society as well as 23 Harvard Conservation Trust student trail managers and 12 adult supervisors to the cleanup; both groups took on several segments and we hope to see them next year. The Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Green Team, and the UU Church Youth Group returned in 2022 and collected the trash from town center, the Common, sports fields, the town beach, and some key roads. Thanks also go to Westward Orchards for the use of their parking lot for supply handout, the Select Board for its financial support, and Tim Kilhart and the DPW crew who collect the bags from Harvard’s roads. We are blown away each year by the number of our neighbors who join the cleanup and pitch in to keep Harvard’s roadsides clear of litter and garlic mustard. This truly is a community event. The cleanup wouldn’t work without you.
And finally, thank you to all of Harvard’s residents who pick up trash on our roads and pull garlic mustard all year long. We know you’re out there and we thank you.
Barbara Romero, Brian McClain, Jessie Panek, Heidi Siegrist, Paul Green, and Libby Levison, organizers
