Volunteers pick up trash as part of first-ever ‘SeaTac Scrub Down’

The city of SeaTac says trash has been a growing problem since the start of the pandemic.

That’s why on Saturday, the city held its first-ever “SeaTac Scrub Down.”

The event was held at Angle Lake Park, where some volunteers even picked up trash from the lake.

According to organizers, that wasn’t necessarily part of the plan, but it speaks to how many different people from different communities showed up to Angle Lake Park on Saturday.

That’s one of the core reasons the event was held, organizers said. The SeaTac Scrub Down had a simple goal — to gather people from across the city to pick up trash, and to build community by getting to better know their neighbors.

Volunteers gathered at Angle Lake Park, divided into five groups and went to different areas across the city.

“We have a lot of different cultures that are here, and so having events like this where we’re all co-taking care of our space with our different cultures coming together, that’s what it’s about to me,” said Mason Giem, City of SeaTac public works program coordinator.

Organizers said this is just one part of a larger effort by city staff and council to pick up trash.

The city of SeaTac says they’ve collected 1,700 bags of litter within the last year.

The average weight of a bag of trash is about 20 pounds, so that’s about 34,000 pounds of trash picked up off the streets, sidewalks, parks and highway ramps.

There was also free food, shirts and live music at Saturday’s event. Organizers said with the strong showing this year, it’s almost a guarantee that they’ll hold a second SeaTac Scrub Down in the near future.

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