STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Environmental Resource Center will hold its 29th annual Clean Sweep from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 3.

Volunteers are wanted to help clean valley streets of empty bottles, cardboard tubes and other trash that has accumulated over the winter.

Volunteers are asked to meet at one of three places to mark the area they will canvas and collect trash bag, glove and disposal information.

The sites are:

ERC Office at 471 Washington Ave. in Ketchum

Hop Porter Park by the arch in Hailey

Memorial Park between Cedar and Elm streets in Bellevue

There will be snacks for those heading out on the trail and tickets good for lunches afterwards, according to Ashton Wilson, the ERC’s director.

Sadly, there seems to be more trash out there than usual this year.

Piles of bottles and paper cups, tissue paper and plastic bags, for instance, have amassed along the bike path between St. Luke’s Wood River and East Fork Road this spring and at the north end of Buttercup Road—far more than ever before.

And one person picked up 10 bags of doggie doo along the path near the Meadows Trailer Park, running out of baggies before she finished the task since there is no bin in that immediate vicinity.

You can pre-register for Saturday’s Clean Sweep, if you like, by emailing Ashton@ercsv.org or calling 208-726-4333. Walk-ins are welcome, as well.