Community spruces up Bloomington streets

Clutching coffee and shivering in long-sleeved shirts worn beneath their neon green “Be Beautiful Bloomington” shirts, the city cleanup program’s volunteers tried to remain chipper, despite the 38-degree morning.

City employees, residents, IU students and students from The Bloomington Project School and The Prep School organized at Bloomington City Hall on Friday to rid
Bloomington’s downtown area of trash.

The volunteers worked three hours collecting litter, sprucing up the city’s flower beds and planting additional flowers.

“We time it so it’s clean and spiffy right before graduation,” Jacqui Bauer, City of Bloomington sustainability coordinator, said. “Downtown is such a visible part of our
 community.”

The cleanup day usually occurs between Little 500 and graduation.

“We do find an uptick of trash during Little Five,” Miah Michaelson, the city’s assistant economic development director for the arts, said, noting the number of red Solo Cups lying around downtown.

The volunteers arrived at 8:30 a.m. for free coffee and bagels as incentives to conquer the littered downtown area.

“Local merchants support us, which is great,” Michaelson said.

Bauer and Michaelson’s group consisted of eight people armed with PikStiks, hoes, trash bags and brooms to clean up Third Street and Walnut Avenue.

IU junior and sailing team member Katy Aiello joined in.

“We try to do community service events and other things to help out the city,” Aiello said.

Aiello said IU students have a responsibility to volunteer in Bloomington.

“We live here, and we probably contribute to a lot of the trash,” Aiello said. “It’s nice to give back and help our community.”