BARRYVILLE, NY — Pete Madden, left, Roswell Hamrick, Laura Burrell, Matt Sallusto and John Pizzolato took time out from gathering trash to show off the very first anti-litter sign placed in Barryville last Saturday. It’s part of a new signage project that will stretch from Port Jervis to Hancock.

“The 2022 Litter Sweep was a joint effort with the Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce” Pizzaloto said, “and Living in Barryville Facebook Group, and over 50 volunteers covering the towns of Highland and Lumberland.”

In a regional effort starting on Earth Day 2022, communities on both sides of the Upper Delaware River joined together to make the Earth a little cleaner of a place.

The second annual Upper Delaware Litter Sweep, organized by the Upper Delaware Council in conjunction with community leaders along the Delaware River, brought volunteers together from April 22 to 30 to pick up litter in the New York towns and Pennsylvania townships that constitute the Upper Delaware region.

Throughout the week, litter sweeps took place at Pennsylvania sites including the Narional Park Service headquarters in Milanville, along Routes 652 and 590, and the townships of Westfall and Shohola. On the New York side of the river, communities including in Fremont, Hancock, Roscoe, Tusten and Narrowsburg participated in litter sweeps of their own.

One cleanup in Lackawaxen collected well over 1,000 pounds of trash along 2.5 miles of Route 590.

Thirty-seven sponsors invested a total of $6,250 in supporting the litter sweep, including 2022 UDC chairperson Andy Boyer in support of TU, Delaware River Solar and the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway.

For more about the Highland sweep, see this week's In My Humble Opinion.