People who missed out by not taking action on Earth Day are not out of luck.

The Friends of the Great Western Trails is sponsoring their annual Earth Day cleanup Saturday. The Great Western Trails were built in 1991 along a railroad that stretches across the state, said Don Kirchenberg, founder and chairman of the Friends of the Great Western Trails.

“It is a former rail right-of-way for the Chicago Great Western Railway from Chicago to Iowa,” Kirchenberg said. “The railroad was shut down and it laid empty for a couple decades. The trail runs through Kane and Kendall counties and cities like St. Charles and Sycamore and then continues to Iowa.”

Kirchenberg said he founded the Friends of the Great Western Trails in 1997 to promote and protect the trail.

“We have the annual Earth Day cleanup, which draws hundreds of people,” Kirchenberg said.

Kirchenberg said anyone interested in helping should head to a part of the trail and start cleaning.

“There’s plenty to clean up,” Kirchenberg said. “Head to a section of trail that is the most convenient for you. Unfortunately, there will be more to clean than there will be volunteers.”

Kirchenberg recommends people wear appropriate clothing and bring plenty of garbage bags to the cleanup.

“Safety is always a concern so we always ask that all volunteers wear gloves, long-sleeved shirts and long pants to help eliminate scrapes and cuts from thorny bushes or sharp objects left as trash along the trails,” Kirchenberg said.

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.