Litter lifters joins forces to clean up Chicago

Recent climate news can drive despair or inspire action.

Why it matters: A coalition of local environmental groups is hoping it will do the latter as it promotes a month-long Trash-A-Palooza campaign urging Chicagoans to collectively fill up 500 bags of litter and document it.

• You don't have to wait for some of the big weekend park clean-ups around Earth Day to start.

How it works: Cleanup Club Chicago organizers ask interested folks to either join a local clean-up group or pick up "litter whenever you have time, take some pics of your trash bags, and submit your cleanup through the online form."

• "It could be your street, a park, a riverbank, a highway underpass, whatever! Feel free to invite your friends, family, and neighbors."

State of play: As of Thursday, Cleanup Club Chicago had already registered nearly 200 bags, putting the campaign on track to meet the month's goal.

Another branch: This Saturday, South Side community gardeners will gather at Greg's Garden, 8460 S Escanaba Ave, to plant cherry trees in remembrance of slain teen Laquan McDonald, community organizer Carolyn Thomas and environmentalist Ken Dunn, who died last fall.

• The ceremony will start at 2pm with a rain date of April 26.

Monica's thought bubble: I am going to try to join at least two local clean-ups this month and would love to hear from Axios readers who've also joined in on the action.