Green Team volunteer is having fun while making a difference

Published on February 26, 2024

As a frequent volunteer with the City of Huntsville’s Green Team, James Lovell demonstrated how easy it is to make a difference.

“I just started showing up,” he said.

When a community cleanup happens anywhere around Huntsville, Lovell will likely be there.

“I typically go anywhere there’s one going on,” Lovell said.

It’s volunteers like Lovell that help keep Huntsville beautiful through Green Team – whether it’s collecting litter along a roadway or spending time sprucing up a park. And Green Team is always looking for more volunteers, more people eager to give a little of themselves for the betterment of the City.

For Lovell, it started years ago when he volunteered with friends with other environmental organizations, cleaning up trash and recycling plastics. A couple of years ago, that led to him working with Green Team. Lovell said he saw the online calendar listing community cleanup days, which gave him all the prompting he needed.

“I just kind of got involved with the community cleanups with Green Team since they were the ones that were already organizing that,” he said. “You could just show up and volunteer and do a little cleanup.”

Green Team is always putting out a call for volunteers to take part in community cleanup days. And if you want to do more, Green Team has an Adopt-a-Spot program that enables groups or organizations to do cleanups in their preferred area every couple of months.

Green Team provides all the tools needed for a cleanup project, such as safety vests, gloves, litter sticks and garbage bags. Arrangements can also be made for the collected garbage to be picked up.

In addition to keeping Huntsville cleaner and more beautiful, Lovell said it’s a lot of fun, too.

“I would say that doing cleanups with the Green Team is a very good opportunity to be involved and meet people in your community, who are universally appreciative of the fact that you’re out there doing that and working within these communities,” Lovell said. “And in addition, it’s a great way to meet some great, new people and be encouraged and inspired to be more active in the community in general. And of course, you can get a little exercise.”

Visit HuntsvilleAL.gov/Adopt-A-Spot to find your preferred location to make a difference.