Celebrate Earth Day with a Cleanup at Lake Julian Park

Update: In response to expected storms, this event has been rescheduled for May 1, 2021.

Individuals, community organizations, and other groups of volunteers are invited to help clean up Lake Julian Park (meet in the extension parking lot on 65 Long Shoals Road in Arden, the Wild Wing Café entrance) and along Heywood Road on Saturday, May 1. Projects include roadside trash removal, landscaping, wetland remediation, lake surface litter skimming, and more. The park-wide cleanup celebrates Earth Day and the growing global movement to restore ecosystems and forests, conserve and rebuild soils, improve farming practices, protect wildlife populations, and rid waterways of plastics.

“Buncombe County parks saw record-breaking visitation in 2020,” according to Peyton O’Conner, Director of Buncombe County Recreation Services. “As the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down, the one avenue for maintaining peoples’ physical and mental wellbeing were parks, open spaces, greenways, and trails. Hopefully, this increased usage will lead to increased advocacy. Our citizens are the best defense in preserving our unique collection of outdoor spaces for current and future generations of Buncombians against pollution and natural disasters caused by climate change.”

Advance registration is recommended, but on-site registration is also available. This is a free event, but space is limited in accordance with current North Carolina guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19. All attendees are expected to follow public health guidance during the event.

Volunteers will be provided with cleanup supplies, but should wear clothes that can get dirty. Volunteers who bring their own watercraft will be allowed to skim trash from the lake surface. 

Volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

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