All year long, we count on volunteers to keep our neighborhood clean and beautiful. Want to get involved? Here’s how you can help.
- Litter pick-up. Volunteers commit to picking up litter around the 4 sides of one block, once a month or so. This helps keep our little Ellerbe Creek clean! To get a block assignment, contact Julia Borbely-Brown at juliaborbelybrown@yahoo.com
- Earth Day. On Earth Day, we sometimes organize a broader neighborhood clean-up, a hazardous waste collection, and a special clean-up of Ellerbe Creek and the Pearl Mill Preserve. Read the full report about Earth Day 2023. Stay tuned for next year’s plans.
- Adopt a Traffic Circle. We count on volunteers to do weeding and planting in our neighborhood traffic circles (at Watts and Knox, Dollar and Englewood) and at the traffic median on Trinity between Buchanan and Watts. If you’d like to help, or to adopt a traffic circle, contact Julia Borbely-Brown at juliaborbelybrown@yahoo.com
- Caring for the Pearl Mill Bioretention Cell along Ellerbe Creek. ECWA has asked whether Trinity Park, with the help of volunteers from other neighborhoods as well, would take primary responsibility for the quarterly workdays that are required to keep the biorentention cell at 700 Markham Ave. functioning properly. TPNA would select the workday, recruit volunteers, and organize and supervise the activity that day. TPNA is currently evaluating whether this is a responsibility we can commit to. If you want to be involved, please contact Karalyn Colopy (karalyncolopy@gmail.com). More about the bioretention cell below!
The Pearl Mill Bioretention Cell
For several years, TPNA has been partnering with the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA) to assist with cleanups and other projects along the section of Ellerbe Creek that runs through the edge of our neighborhood.
In October 2023 and March 2024 we participated in two successful workdays at the Pearl Mill “bioretention cell” at 700 Markham Ave. adjacent to Ellerbe Creek.The bioretention cell is like a giant rain garden. It’s a pond bed that is normally dry but is ready to receive large amounts of water. When it rains, storm water is channeled into it, and the water slowly seeps into the ground over the course of hours or days, making its way into the creek underground. This helps prevent stormwater from flowing rapidly over land into the creek, which would erode the creek’s banks and carry pollutants and sediment into the creek. Instead, pollutants and storm debris remain in the bioretention, which then has to be cleaned out from time to time. The Pearl Mill bioretention has been particularly in need of maintenance lately due a lot of loose soil and debris from nearby construction sites.
On March 22, 2024, a crew of ~20 volunteers from Trinity Park and other neighborhoods spent the morning removing weeds, dead plants, trash and compacted sediment from the bottom of the bioretention and from the inlet bays, and adding mulch. Doing this periodically ensures that the bioretention will continue to do its job, allowing stormwater to seep into the ground. Workdays typically last about 3 hours and can also include tasks such as planting native species, removing invasive species, and removing gravel from the storm drains that feed the bioretention.
ECWA is now hoping that Trinity Park, with the help of other neighborhoods, will take responsibility for the quarterly workdays that this space requires. TPNA would select the workday, recruit volunteers, and organize and supervise the activity that day. TPNA is currently evaluating whether this is a responsibility we can commit to. If you want to be involved, please send your name and contact information to Karalyn Colopy (karalyncolopy@gmail.com).
Volunteers tending the Pearl Mill bioretention site on the March 22 workday.
