Gov. Walz Participates In Earth Day Cleanup

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – It's not very often you see the Governor of Minnesota in a bright yellow safety vest climbing a muddy hill, but Monday is Earth Day, so Gov. Tim Walz is doing his part and picking up trash.

"It's ideological," Gov. Walz said. "Sustainability and cleaning our environment is just a good thing to do. It binds us together. It's not partisan."

The Governor's efforts are part of a bigger event organized by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Department of Health, DNR, MnDOT and other partners.

"The idea of recycling, it's been so embedded (in society), but you see every spring it's hard to believe there's still trash everywhere," Walz said.

Courtney Jordan Baechler is one of the hundreds of people that braved the rain to pick up trash.

"As we look around, we were just looking at our freeways over here, there's a lot of trash out there, there's a lot of cleanup to do," Baechler said.

Baechler brought her young son, Will.

"I think the best thing we can do for our kids is to model what we want them to do. I think that we all have a responsibility to do this together, so he's here helping out," Baechler said.