Vail to celebrate Earth Day with cleanup of town parks and more

The Town of Vail on Monday issued the following press release on its Earth Day cleanup and other celebration plans for Friday, April 22:

Earth Day is Friday, April 22. To celebrate Town of Vail’s Green Team will host the Poo Patrol cleanup of parks containing excessive dog poop that was left behind this winter. The cleanup effort will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on April 22. Gloves, bags, buckets and tools will be available. Community members are encouraged to come out to one of the following parks and help assist in the effort: Stephens Park, Bighorn Park, Booth Creek Park, Ellefson Park, Buffehr Creek Park, Red Sandstone Park and Davos Trailhead. To sign up, please contact Beth Markham, environmental sustainability coordinator, at bmarkham@vailgov.com.  Residents who attend will receive Town of Vail swag as a thank you. The town always asks residents and visitors to clean up after pets to keep the environment clean and prevent waste from impairing the health of Gore Creek.

In addition, the town will be coordinating a team for this year’s Community Pride Highway Cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 30. To sign up for Vail’s team, contact Pete Wadden, watershed education coordinator, at pwadden@vailgov.com. The town is also encouraging residents to get outside and help clean up their neighborhoods. Residents can dispose of collected trash in dumpsters provided by the town for this alternative cleanup effort from May 12-19 or until they are full, whichever comes first. The dumpsters will be located at the North Trail Trailhead parking lot at the West end of the North Frontage Road in West Vail, the Ford Park parking lot and the East Vail interchange parking area at I-70 exit 180. The Hard to Recycle day will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 13 at the Ford Park parking lot. Electronic waste and household hazardous waste will be collected for recycling and yard waste will be collected for composting. Paper shredding services will be onsite, and all materials shredded will be recycled. The event will be free for community members who live and work in Vail. 

As a preview of other sustainability initiatives to come this summer, Town of Vail is partnering with Town of Avon and EagleVail Metro District to launch ShiftBike, an electric bike share program. The intent of the program is to offer a micromobility solution to encourage a shift in commuting behavior from driving vehicles to more earth friendly mobility options to reduce transportation related greenhouse gas emissions. The program will be aimed primarily at residents for a fun and efficient way to commute shorter distances for work, errands or social gatherings. Visitors and locals interested in using an e-bike for recreation or want to take out an e-bike for longer periods of time are encouraged to rent an e-bike from a local bike shop. The program will have 90 e-bikes and 15 stations between Vail and Avon and will launch May 20 and run through Oct. 31, weather permitting. Additional details will be available in the coming weeks. The partner communities encourage residents to try out this fun alternative mode of transportation this summer and shift your ride. 

Town of Vail will be kicking off the annual Sole Power Green Commuting Challenge on Monday, May 30. Celebrating its 12^th year, Sole Power is the free green commuting challenge for Eagle County residents that supports active transportation such as biking, walking and skating instead of motorized options to commute to work, run errands or attend social engagements. Participants get outside, get fit, reduce their carbon footprint, save money, win prizes, and have fun. In 2021, 309 participants logged nearly 53,000 miles and reduced over 48,400 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. To sign up, visit www.solepower.org. 

For more information on Vail’s sustainability initiatives, contact Beth Markham, Town of Vail environmental sustainability coordinator, at 970-479-2333 or at bmarkham@vailgov.com. Click here for more information.