In mid-May, Suffield High School Junior Katie O’Hara and her friend Leigha Johnston cleaned up trash on a one-mile stretch of the Connecticut River bank. Her parents helped.
Katie O’Hara (left) and friend Leigha Johnston.
The four collected 95 pounds of plastic, styrofoam, food packaging, cigarette butts and more near Hilltop Farm.
It was part of the Save the Sound initiative, a 50-year-old nonprofit based in New Haven, which works to protect the land, air, and water of Connecticut and Long Island Sound. In the spring, O’Hara had volunteered for her first Save the Sound cleanup in Hamden, where a new park is planned on a former 100-acre industrial site riddled with toxic waste.
O’Hara said she’d like to lead at least two cleanups each year in Suffield, perhaps teaming up with Sustainable Suffield, the town’s environmental task force. She said her first was a test to work out the kinks. She intends to advertise the cleanups on social media, through posters around town, and via Save the Sound communications.
She’s interested in the Connecticut River since, as she said, “It leads to the sound, and filters waste throughout before it enters the big body of water.”
She welcomes volunteers of all ages. If you’re interested in future cleanups, email O’Hara at katieohara826@gmail.com.