While most woke up early to get the latest Black Friday discounts, others decided to use their time to help clean up parts of Wells Avenue from Crampton St. to Grand Canyon Blvd.
That is because Gear Hut organized a clean-up or "Green Friday" to clean parts of Wells Avenue. 25 people showed up to help and the goal was to collect 20 bags of trash, preventing it from going into the Truckee river.
It isn’t a new idea, but a different way to spend the day after Thanksgiving.
“Instead of like living our meaningless consumer driven lives today, on this like super discount laden holiday, we can be giving ourselves fresh air and exercise and friendships and making the world a better place,” says volunteer, Ashley Andrews.
Green Friday awarded volunteers with some discounts at local stores.
“Our labors are being rewarded by the community here,” says Andrews. But they say that isn’t why they came. “No, I’m not here for the discounts. I’m here to help reno be the place, that I enjoy living,” she says.
Organizers say, all the trash accumulating on sidewalks and streets would eventually drain into the Truckee River and this is a proactive way to prevent things from getting to that point.
“It's also a good way for people to kind of scope out the small businesses on Wells Avenue, support tomorrow, with small business Saturday coming up,” says event organizer, Leah Wzientek, Owner of Gear Hut.
Although a lot of the trash ends up here intentionally, volunteers understand, that isn’t always the reason.
“I kind of came to realize that some people just thought it'll fly out of their car, it'll be in the back of their truck, they don't think about it,” says volunteer, Riley Roberts.
Gear Hut will have another green Friday next year, but if you want to help before then, there are plenty of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful events which you can find at https://www.ktmb.org/
