HOLTS SUMMIT — Retold Tales Used Bookstore in Holts Summit hosted its inaugural “trash bash” trash cleanup Monday as part of its Earth Day celebration, allowing residents to make a positive impact on the environment.
The trash bash began at Retold Tales and included a 1.5-mile circuit for volunteers to walk along while collecting trash. The loop headed up South Summit Drive to Holts Summit Park, and then down Greenway Drive and back to the bookstore.
The community cleanup was sponsored by both Retold Tales bookstore and True Value of Holts Summit. The sponsors provided water and supplies, like gloves and bags, to volunteers.
Katherine Boyce, an employee at Retold Tales, helped organize and execute the cleanup effort. She said events like this one help increase awareness of the amount of waste put into the environment.
“It’s really easy to get caught up in like trying to get from point a to point b, and you get in like autopilot mode, and you don’t see all the litter building up,” Boyce said. “But you notice the people standing there picking it up, and it makes you a bit more conscious of what you’re doing to help and how much waste you’re putting out into the environment.”
The trash bash offered the opportunity for community members to come together and show their commitment to environmental stewardship, but Boyce said you don’t have to be cleaning in groups to make a difference.
“You can go out in your backyard and clean that up or walk out into your front yard, or just walk down your street,” Boyce said.
According to Boyce, the community in Holts Summit shows a true care for the environment.
“In Holts Summit, there’s gardens everywhere and those attract all the bees and the butterflies, and that’s a huge impact,” she said.
Boyce said initiatives like this one on Earth Day are an important reminder of the responsibility humans have to help the planet.
“I live on the Earth, and the Earth needs to be taken care of,” Boyce said. “I think because we all live here, we kind of all share the same responsibility to take care of it.”
This Earth Day’s trash bash served as a beacon of hope to a greener, cleaner future, Boyce said.