ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s hard to miss the bottles, boxes, food containers and mattresses along parts of Central Avenue. It’s something Bernalillo County leaders are working to reduce. 

“Every month, county Planning and Development Services identifies a location in the county that just needs a little bit of attention as far as cleaning up trash that’s been improperly discarded,” said Nick Hamm, director of Planning and Development Services for Bernalillo County.

Hamm says his department, employees from Parks, Recreation and Open Space, and some workers from the Treasury Department are a part of the effort. 

“We just head out with trash bags and gloves. And we pick up as much litter as we can in the allotted time that we have that morning. So it’s a way to get all types of employees involved in field work as far as cleaning things up,” Hamm said. 

Last week, the county partnered up with NMDOT to clean up Central from 114th to 131st Street. 

“We reached out to the state, let them know that we would be organizing an effort, and they were nice enough to help us out on that day. So they sent staff and heavy equipment, and contributed quite a bit to our effort to clean up that part of the county,” Hamm said. 

He says there’s an open invitation for state and municipal partners to help out in the future. 

“Primarily to just show people that there’s a proper way to dispose of their waste, to show that, you know, just a little bit of extra effort can make these spaces look much better. And we want to also try to set an example for folks, and show them that, as we serve the community, we also want to be involved in the community,” said Hamm.  

Hamm also says Bernalillo County has another waste disposal initiative underway right now called Scrap Tire Amnesty Days. Community members can dispose of old tires properly for free. 

The next event is Jan. 13 at the Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center. Click here to see all of the dates and locations.