Local volunteers join national effort to clean America

By Kyle B. Hansen

Saturday, March 6, 2010 | 1:23 p.m.

Heather Abel’s job duties include wearing green tights and a cape.

She’s a super hero by profession; she goes by the name “Going Green Girl,” and Saturday she was leading about 50 volunteers – wearing white T-shirts with green G-Force logos – in cleaning up the Las Vegas Arts District.

The event was the first part of the Great Las Vegas Cleanup, a local response to the Great American Cleanup.

City officials teamed up with business and community leaders to join the Keep America Beautiful organization, which sponsors the annual two-month national cleanup.

Locally, the only official Great American Cleanup event was at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where officials expected about 200 volunteers Saturday to clean Boulder Harbor.

The Las Vegas group is in the certification process to join the national movement, but cleanup events are planned through April.

Able works for Going Green, a group that helps other organizations put on green events and has a green gallery at the Arts Factory. She said she hopes Saturday’s cleanup will become a monthly event, a “first Saturday” cleanup to follow the First Friday events in the Arts District – with an emphasis on recycling.

“Cleaning up the neighborhood is only one part of today,” Abel said. “It was really important for us to bring in the environmental issues.”

Some of the volunteers at the event said they came out because their friends encouraged them to, but they were happy to help the neighborhood.

“We support the arts and the art district,” said Stefanie Peck, who came with her friend Beth Mundo from the southern valley. “We were here last night for First Friday. People are going to come down here if it’s safe and clean, not if it’s a mess.”

Miles Dickson, a UNLV law student, also said he came to support the Arts District.

“I was born and raised here and downtown is a really important part of the area, so I came to be part of the solution,” he said.

Paul Grimyser works for the city’s new sustainability office, but volunteered his time to come clean on a Saturday.

“It’s something I’m passionate about and I try to pick different events to support,” he said. The cleanup was also his first visit to the Arts District. “It’s kind of fun to get to come see it instead of just driving by at 30 miles per hour.”