A day of cleanup around Cedar Rapids

HIAWATHA – Forever is a mighty long time but Jan Axtell of Cedar Rapids said seeing trash pile up along the interstate has bothered her for years.

“We are really trying to bring businesses into Cedar Rapids and we've got litter everywhere,” said Axtell as she and her husband, Del, spent Saturday morning picking up just about anything and everything on the side of I-380 at Boyson Road.  “We could at least drive down the interstate and say, ‘look what we did'.”

Axtell organized cleanup efforts for I-380 but said she was disappointed in the turnout this time.

“Last year, we had 50 people and this year we had 15.”

As Del Axtell filled up his second oversized bag of trash, he already had his unusual find of the morning.

“Truckers have the tendency not to stop because they get paid by the mile or by time so they urinate in a plastic jug, slow down as they're coming down the interstate and toss it out,” Del Axtell said.  “I think I picked up two of them in this stretch.”  Soon after, he opened one of the trash bags, full of paper, bottles, beer cans, plastic bags.  All covered in ants.

Volunteers also worked through six different neighborhoods in Cedar Rapids, including flood-affected Rompot, Time Check and near Taylor Elementary school.  Yet areas that were not damaged by the Flood of 2008 are also looking a bit sharper after Saturday's efforts.

“We've seen a lot of mini liquor bottles, like airplane size,” said Lauren Yerjeau of Milford, Conn.  She is an AmeriCorps volunteer spending time in Eastern Iowa.  Yerjeau worked an eight-hour shift in the Wellington Heights neighborhood.

The AmeriCorps teams, decked out in bright orange shirts, worked in tandem throughout the streets, picking up whatever was not growing from the ground.

“I just put a sock in here,” said Tabby Smith, a volunteer and Decorah native, as she rummaged through a garbage bag.  “Picked up a taillight earlier, even bricks.”

With so many people outside on a pleasant day to welcome the first day of May, Smith said she hopes her efforts will keep her from coming back for more cleaning.

“People will see how nice it looks and maybe clean it themselves.”

By Chris Earl, KCRG-TV9