Walking down North Main Street on a busy day, you may notice an abundance of garbage. Plastic bags stuck in bushes, cigarette butts discarded on sidewalks, styrofoam coffee cups, paper bags with colorful logos, and even batteries or loose wires. Most West Hartford residents disregard the garbage, simply stepping around it or driving over it; however, one West Hartford resident is trying to change that. 

Cooper Pointek, a Bugbee student in second grade, spends his free time picking up trash on North Main Street and Asylum Avenue. After school on Wednesdays, armed with garbage bags, makeshift gloves, and a grabber, Cooper gets to work. Walking down a stretch of road around 3 to 4 blocks long, Cooper collects an average of 4.5 pounds of garbage. 

“There are lots of cigarettes,” he says, using his grabber to pick up two butts thoughtlessly tossed to the side of the road. “I find a lot of papers and bags, too.” 

Hall High School students can look to join Cooper in these months, before the weather turns too cold; or, they could start with their own streets and help pay it forward.