Hosting CITO Event

[+TyeRay SJGR]

I am thinking of hosting a CITO event for the April 20/21 Weekend and, would like some help in ideas, locations, games, and all-round ideas to plan the day, any help or links would be great.

great.

Thank Ya!

[+niraD]

The CITO events I've attended have been pretty simple: pick up a trash bag, sign the log (which was either a notebook or a trash bag taped to a fence), pick up trash, put trash in trash bag, and leave the full trash bag where instructed. The location is just somewhere the CO wanted to clean up. There were no games or any other activities, other than picking up trash (and maybe a photo next to the full trash bags at the end).

[+hzoi]

First of all, good on you. I have always intended to host a CITO and never got around to it.

 

As far as picking the area goes, I would recommend someplace publicly owned -- CITO isn't an exception to trespass laws. Even vacant lots are owned by someone, and they might not want anyone to enter the property for liability purposes. So check before you CITO.

 

If the area you want to clean up is a park or other type of public property, coordinate with whoever "owns" it. They should at least be aware that you're going to be conducting a group activity on the land. They might be willing to support the effort with bags, gloves, reflective vests, publicity, food, employees, additional volunteers, etc.

 

If you're going to be around a busy road, probably a good idea to let the police or highway department know; they might want to put out signs or something to advise traffic and keep everyone safe.

 

Plan for after the CITO as well -- all those bags of trash have to go somewhere. You may need to coordinate with the sanitation department. (If you're working with a park, hopefully they do this part for you.)

 

Those are all the ones off the top of my head. After I wrote all that, I went to the CITO forum and saw this great checklist thread that covers even more ground. So I'd check that out, too.

[+TyeRay SJGR]

Thank you Thats exactly what I needed!

[+Ringrat]

Ours usually go something like:

-show up, sign log

-pick up trash for a couple hours

-have potluck at park nearby or where we just cleaned up

 

It gives us a chance to socialize after picking up trash in little groups, and people usually end up making plans to carry on caching for a bit.

 

Have fun! I'll also be hosting one that weekend!

[+chillypenguin]

Are there any local community parks or nature reserves that would appreciate some volunteer labour. I am sure if you got in touch with the ranger/manager, they would take you up on the offer.

 

Also remember a CITO is not just limited to trash collection. The CITO that I did was coppicing willow, which was much more attractive to me than collecting trash. In the park that day was a fun run, so some of the CITO'ers assisted the fun run organisers by collecting the used drinking bottles, that would have become trash. The park was really impressed with the work that we all put in.

 

What was disappointing was a number cachers that had signed up did not come because of the (small) parking charge, and we all got free passes anyway.

[AZcachemeister]

1. Find public space that is in need of a clean-up. Sometimes this could be a part of an 'adopt-a-highway' program if such exists in your area. (A privately owned piece of land may be unsightly, but it is the owner's responsibility to pay to have that cleaned up.)

 

2. Contact the land managers of the area in question, and co-ordinate your efforts with whatever support they can offer.

 

3. Pick a day, and try not to conflict with any other events in the area.

 

4. Show up, clean up, and be proud!

[+rhodesisland]

I have hosted three CITO events and am planning my fourth; it's an annual event for me. Here on Guam we gather, sign the log, have raffle prizes, play a few games, clean the park/beach, and then have potluck. Everyone seems to have a good time! I contact our local EPA office for trash bags and logs, the local parks and rec waive the pavilion rental for us and sometimes I can make arrangements for the Mayor's office to haul the trash to the dump!

 

I also make sure we separate the recyclables from the trash. I haul out the recyclables.

 

What I'm looking for now are ideas for "event games"--I'm out of anything fresh and fun. Any ideas?!

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the Cache In Trash Out forum.