In celebration of Earth Week, members of the Southern Georgian Bay Real Estate Association are launching the first Realtor Clean-Up Day.

Realtors, their friends, families and members of the public will be joining forces on Saturday, April 26, to assemble crews to clean up Midland, Penetanguishene, Severn, Springwater, and Tay and Tiny Townships.

“The goal is to clean up garbage and other debris in pre-determined areas that were identified by the towns and townships as requiring additional attention,” says Re/Max agent Monica McCready.

The Towns of Midland and Penetanguishene are also doing their part for the environment this week.

Meghan Weissflog, administrative assistant to the recreation department for The Town of Penetanguishene, says her department will be acting as a liaison for Pitch-In Canada, a national non-profit and charitable organization, whose goal it is to improve communities and the environment.

“Schools in the area will all be doing their own cleanups, and then there will be a community clean-up at Rotary Park scheduled for Saturday, April 26,” she says. “It’s nice to get out there and contribute to the improvement of the community.”

Andrea Rabbitts, planner for the Town of Midland, says they will also be endorsing Pitch-In Week, and have sent out close to 70 letters to local schools and businesses in the hope of cleaning up the town.

Rabbitts says the town will be leading by example, as staff and various members of council will be out with their garbage bags working hard to tidy up at the corner of Highway 93 and Yonge Street on April 26 between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

“It’s good to get out there and try to help the environment as much as possible, and to keep our community looking green,” she says. “It really changes people’s attitudes to be out there and seeing how dirty it is after the winter melt.”