After Earth Day Comes Trash Day, N.Y. Crews Learn

Sanitation crews by midday Monday had scooped up 154.3 tons of the litter that Earth Day celebrants left in Central Park. Altogether, the estimated 1 million people who participated in the observance in various parts of the city Sunday left more than 165 tons of trash behind them, sanitation and parks officials said.

“It’s massive!” Skip Garrett of the Parks Department said. “Our cleanup force has taken 150 tons of trash and 4.3 tons of material left in recycling receptacles from Central Park this morning, and there’s still . . . a lot of cleaning up to do.”

Garrett said the debris spilled over from the vast green into wooded areas nearby, and some trash was left even in trees that some celebrants had climbed to get a good view of the festivities. He said that 50 parks sanitation men worked throughout the night.

A Sanitation Department spokesman said that an additional 7.7 tons of recyclable containers had been collected from special stations that were set up around the city on Sunday.

In Baton Rouge, La., meanwhile, several city workers and volunteers worked for three hours to clean up the beer cans, cups, food wrappers and other trash left behind by Earth Day celebrants there. “I’d like to think it’s cleaner than at past festivals, but I don’t know,” said Paul Davidson, the local Earth Day chairman.