Keeping nature clean a 365-day affair

Every day is Earth Day when it comes to cleaning up Carson City, according to city environmental officer Ken Arnold.

Arnold recently spoke to 50 Mark Twain Elementary School children who turned out to pick up trash in the wetlands behind St. Teresa's Catholic Church.

"They cleaned up that area," he said. "They picked up an overflowing pickup full of trash, from tires to just general litter."

Arnold said he told the children the Earth needs the same things to be healthy as a person.

"We need clean food, water and air to be healthy," he said. "The Earth has to be healthy for us to be healthy."

Mark Twain Elementary School is located off Carriage Crest Drive, not far from the wetlands.

Arnold said there are several benefits to having the children come into the field.

"The kids are learning to be good stewards of the environment," he said. It's awesome to have them out here. Every thing we do with recycling we try to do with the children. Then they take it home to their parents. Down the road they'll have children and the job will be that much easier."

Cleaning up the wetlands has important implications for Carson's drinking water.

"Besides being unsightly, there is a little stream that runs through there," he said. "If it is polluted, it could pollute our ground water. It's harmful to wildlife and there's all kinds of wildlife out there, including ducks and raccoons."

Mark Twain fifth-grader Emily Daniels was one of the students involved, according to her grandmother Elizabeth Allen.

"She enjoyed it very much," Allen, a 15-year resident of Carson City, said.

Emily is the daughter of Vicki and Roberto Ramos.