Every April, local residents spend a Saturday morning cleaning up the streets of Fulton one piece of trash at a time.
This year, Fulton officials are hoping to expand that sense of environmental awareness from one morning to several days of Earth-friendly activities to tie in with Earth Day, starting with Clean Sweep Saturday on April 20.
Other features of the city's increased focus on being green will include household hazardous material collection and an e-waste collection day as well as lectures on ways to be more environmentally conscious.
"(Ward 4 Councilman) Steve Moore has been suggesting we do something with Earth Day for years. We've had time to rethink it, and how we could expand," Mayor LeRoy Benton said. "It should be a good thing for the community, and we need that reminder (to care for the environment) every year."
Benton said Clean Sweep Saturday will follow the same formula as previous Fulton Pride Days, with teams of area residents starting at 9 a.m. to pick up litter throughout the city before meeting at 11 a.m. in the amphitheater in Memorial Park for lunch. This year, he said there also will be displays by businesses that produce and sell recycled and green products.