Earth Day
Chop Shop 166 Team Members Join With Union Coffee Co. For Earth Day Community Clean Up
Lyndeborough, NH, April 20, 2024 – The Merrimack FIRST Robotics team, Chop Shop 166, collaborated with Union Coffee Co. for an Earth Day Community Clean Up at Purgatory Falls. Earth Day recognizes the importance of environmental protection and sustainability. Chop Shop 166 chose to participate by picking up trash and plastic polluting the park.
“Our annual Earth Day trail cleanup took place on Saturday 4/20 with dozens of participants removing waste from the Purgatory Falls trails system spanning the communities of Milford, Lyndeborough, Wilton, and Mont Vernon.” said David Cianci, owner of Union Coffee Co.
Earth Day was founded on April 22, 1970 to stand up for the planet and champion a greener, more equitable future for us all. “Now in its 54th year, Earth Day serves as a poignant reminder of our collective responsibility to safeguard the environment and our own future,” writes EarthDay.org.
At Purgatory Falls eight members of the robotics team joined with volunteers from Union Coffee to remove over 200lbs of trash from the park.
“A community clean up event like this is emblematic of the goals of FIRST and Chop Shop 166”, said Lucas, Co-Captain of Chop Shop 166. “Our goal is to inspire the next generation to be STEAM leaders and innovators, and we need to make sure that the world they enter into is a clean and safe one.
As Earth Day stands as a reminder of how we can change the world, the Chop Shop 166 hopes to continue making contributions to a greener community through events such as these.
Lucas added, “Earth day is a great opportunity to demonstrate our dedication to a clean and healthy planet and we hope to continue working towards this.”
Although robotics is associated with science and technology, the team recognizes that it is just as important to recognize environmental issues. The team’s lead mentor, Matthew Gage, could not have worded better, saying:
“One of the foundational principles of our team is being involved in the community. While our focus is often on promoting the power of STEAM to affect change the world, sometimes it is the simple acts we do, like picking up trash, that make the biggest difference. Events like this help to set an example of how to reduce our footprint on the world and leave our communities better than we found them.”
Chop Shop 166 was exceptionally gratified to not only contribute to making a positive impact to the environment, but do so while collaborating with Union Coffee Co.
“We believe that excellence in coffee can inspire healthier individuals, stronger families, closer communities, and a better society,” added Cianci of Union Coffee Co.