Over the past several weeks, a very enthusiastic group of approximately 30 Westport Island residents completed the annual cleanup of our Island’s roads. This year, due to COVID-19, we were unable to assign road sections in person so we posted a list of road sections on the town’s website together with appropriate contact information for volunteering. We also posted a link to the list to the Westport Island Facebook page.

Most of the volunteers were able to transport the debris gathered from our roadsides directly to the Wiscasset Transfer Station. As expected, trash collected from our roadsides was mostly cigarette butts and discarded beverage and fast food containers; however, like in other years, we continue to find a distressing amount of household trash, construction debris, discarded furniture, motor vehicle parts and old tires.

Please be aware that the filters in cigarettes are made of a kind of plastic, which, unlike the tobacco, are not biodegradable and, when carelessly discarded, can persist on our roadsides for years.

We appreciate the efforts by many residents to help keep our Island clean on a year-round basis by routinely picking up trash discarded along our roadsides. Many thanks to our Island walkers who pick up trash on their daily treks. Please keep up the good work!