Lake Charles Team Green will lead its annual Beach Sweep and Inland Waterway Cleanup 7 a.m.-noon Saturday, Sept. 16, as part of a nationwide event held each September.

This year’s cleanup comes at an opportune time for the city, said community services director Esther Vincent. Although high water from Tropical Storm Harvey has mostly receded, she said, trash and debris still line the banks of local waterways.

“Many of the areas that had drainage trash, somehow Harvey brought that to the forefront,” Vincent said.

After a 7 a.m. briefing, volunteers will collect trash and record their collections with data cards from 8 to 10:30 a.m. The event will close with refreshments and a presentation by Mayor Nic Hunter at the Civic Center.

Acting Team Green Director Blake Trahan encouraged residents, even if they don’t go to the Civic Center, to pick up debris near their homes.

“This cleanup is focused on the lakes, the streams, the rivers,” he said. “But it even goes as far as the ditch in front of your house.”

Vincent urged residents to help lessen city drainage woes by keeping their drains clean, noting that one clogged pipe or basin can affect the entire city.

“Because we’re in an economic boom and we have so much going on here, it’s important that we keep our community clean,” she said. 

“It takes all of us to do what we can and not just depend on city public works, because no one is going to be able to go down every street, every day, to pick up after you.”

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For more information or to volunteer, call Lilia Keeton at 491-1481.