Earth Day: Highlighting positive environmental stewardship on Delmarva

WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – A cleaner and healthier county is the mission for local environmental group, Wicomico Clean.

But their efforts don’t just start and stop on Earth Day. Lead volunteer, Mark Engberg said it’s a 365 day commitment.

“Once you take notice and clean up an area, it really becomes personal when you see that area littered again,” said Engberg. “You really become sensitive to our environment and our community, once you’ve gotten out there and really made an effort to improve it.”

The group has helped free our local environment of 15 tons of trash. Wicomico County councilmember, Josh Hastings said the organization’s work in the county is helping it become a more attractive place to live, work and play.

“We want to make sure that folks feel that this is a community that’s cared for, that people actually want to be here, and it’s hard to try to get people to move their businesses here if they look around and there’s nothing but plastic water bottles covering the drains, or plastic bags hanging from the trees,” said Hastings.

And for young environmental stewards in the making, Engberg said Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to learn the importance of keeping our world clean.

“It’s wonderful. The young children that come out, they say to their parents, ‘Oh, look! We’re seeing litter here and there and everywhere.’ And before they had done a cleanup, they had never been attuned to spotting litter in the environment, and now they’re like little litter police,” said Engberg.