On a warm and sunny Monday morning, dozens showed their commitment to preserving the historic feel of downtown Provo during an Earth Day cleanup blitz.

Organized by Downtown Provo Inc., a nonprofit business alliance, the two-hour event focused on cleaning up trash, stickers and posters throughout the heart of downtown.

According to the organization’s executive director, Quinn Peterson, several downtown businesses expressed concerns with the amount of litter and disregard for public property they were seeing.

“We’re really fortunate that we have a beautiful, historic downtown. But as our population grows, there’s just more and more waste throughout the downtown,” Peterson said.

Volunteers split up in groups along a section Provo’s Center Street between 500 West and University Avenue. They scoured thoroughfares where two major hotels and the Utah Valley Convention Center sit, gathering trash along sidewalks, street corners and gutters. Volunteers also cleared off stickers and posters from city property.

Provo resident Georgia Buchert was among the many volunteers. She and her daughter wanted to participate in an Earth Day event and discovered what Downtown Provo Inc. was doing.

“We spend a lot of time downtown we live adjacent to downtown, and it’s just important to help keep this a beautiful place,” Buchert told the Daily Herald.

She feels that visitors to downtown generally are pretty good about keeping the area clean, “but we can always do better,” Buchert added.

However, some employees in the area have a different perspective. Chelsea Watters works downtown and says she’s definitely noticed an uptick in waste and litter. “There seems to be an increased amount of just trash debris that’s building up on the street corners near our building and, honestly, all the way up and down Center Street and all the main roads,” Watters said. “You try and pick it up as you see it, but it’s nice to have a dedicated time to clean it up.”

Kat Mars is majoring in biodiversity and conservation at Brigham Young University. She wanted to spend the morning doing something to give back to the community in a way that helps makes the earth a better place.

“This planet is our home. I think we’re made stewards of it, and so we have a responsibility to take care of it and make sure not only that it’s beautiful for us but for future generations as well,” Mars said.

Provo resident Haley Matthews found out about Monday’s event through Instagram. She realized all the work that goes into scraping a sticker from a stop sign.

“It was harder than imagined. I don’t think people realize when they stick them there just how long they’re gonna stay there,” Matthews said.

She’s lived in Provo for six years and enjoys the variety of businesses and events downtown and wants see it remain vibrant and clean.

“I like to come to a lot of events on Center Street. I really enjoy Provo; in the couple of years I’ve lived here it’s really gotten beautiful, and there’s so many festivals and events you can come to. So I feel like it’s just me giving back,” Matthews told the Daily Herald.

While Earth Day highlights a time for community cleanup, Peterson says he hopes residents are encouraged to keep downtown Provo clean year-round.

“We hope this event can also send a message to the community of stop putting up posters, stickers, trash throughout the downtown, because it just adds to a greater level of graffiti and vandalism,” Peterson told the Daily Herald. “And so if we can make our urban core in the heart of downtown clean, it really helps to impact and change behavior.”

And for people who still have an urge to share their art or promote an event, they are encouraged to utilize public information kiosks that are placed throughout the downtown corridor.

“There’s seven of those right now, so that’s where those things can live. But not on the trees and not on the stop signs. So that’s what we’re trying to encourage,” Peterson said.

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