Newburyport Group Promotes Fall Cleanups

NEWBURYPORT — A local nonprofit organization will be very busy over the next couple of months promoting fall cleanups in the local area and beyond.

The Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards, or ACES, is a Newburyport-based network of organizations and people dedicated to climate and environmental health.

The organization, which facilitates a weekly column for The Daily News of Newburyport, has been working to create a more sustainable planet by connecting and amplifying local organizations since 2018. It is also promoting a number of area cleanups as part of its 2022 Fall Cleanup Campaign.

“If somebody can’t go to one cleanup, they may be able to participate in another,” ACES President Art Currier said.

Among the events, ACES is promoting is a cleanup of Crane Beach in Ipswich on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to noon. In addition, the Seacoast Paddle Board Club will kick off a cleanup at the Peirce Island boat ramp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Sunday, Oct. 30, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

The Coastal Trails Coalition will host a pair of cleanups Saturday, Nov. 19 – the first at Lions Park in Salisbury and the second at the Riverwalk Trail entrance in Amesbury. Both begin at 9 a.m.

Currier said the Salisbury Department of Public Works regularly gives people the opportunity to organize a cleanup at a local site.

“Efforts like this require collaboration,” he said. “So supporting all of these cleanups is vital for all of these communities. Together, we can make a much bigger dent because of the teamwork involved.”

ACES has worked with Jim McCarthy of Newburyport, who heads up the Greater Newburyport Plogging group, which regularly uses handheld devices to pick up trash year-round.

“Jim is a phenomenal environmental steward who is self-motivated,” said Brenda Hoover of ACES. “People clean up every day, all year long, it is endless.

Hoover said the spring is typically the best time for local cleanups, which often coincide with Earth Day in April, and ACES hopes to work with a local student group to develop an all-school cleanup in the area, possibly next spring.

“Nothing has been set in stone at this point because schools are about a month in,” she said. “But we’re hoping some of the students will be able to spearhead that project.”

For more information, go to the Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards website at www.aces-alliance.org/.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.