'Make Earth Day, every day' by being part of the clean-up of Janes Island State Park

CRISFIELD — Janes Island State Park is calling on volunteers to help clean-up their park. This is a challenge to everyone: from individuals, campers or day-users, to groups, businesses, and civic organizations, to lead their own clean-ups, on any day at any time.

In the past, the park has scheduled island clean-ups. However, the variability of the weather often leads to cancellation — and trash doesn’t accumulate just one day a year.

So, this year park staff encourages visitors to make it “Earth Day, every day” and turn any and every visit to Janes Island into a clean-up, by picking up trash and then recording it through the Clean-Swell app.

Clean Swell was launched by the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy and is used to record trash clean-ups in waterways across the world. Users download Clean Swell in the App Store or Google Play , enter their name or their group’s name, and then record what trash items, such as bottles and bags, they pick up.

Clean Swell automatically calculates the weight of the trash, and the area covered by the clean-up.

Once your clean-up is complete, the data from your clean-up will be recorded in the Ocean Conservancy’s public database.

Every person who does a clean-up on Janes Island before Dec. 31 will be entered into a prize raffle. To enter, email the park’s volunteer coordinator Mark Herring at mark.herring@maryland.gov with the name and date that you recorded your clean-up on Clean Swell.

Transportation for groups that do not have their own boats may be provided, given advance notice. For questions or more information, email Ranger Herring or call the park office at 410-968-1565.