Barton tells WGIL that it all started last spring when he started in his neighborhood and noticed other places that needed to be cleaned up as well.
“It started back in the spring, and you know, I just started picking up trash in my neighborhood and I started driving around town,” says Barton. “There’s other streets that probably needed more attention, so I just started going out on the weekends or afternoons and take my trash bag along with me, park somewhere and just walk a few blocks picking up trash.”
Barton says so far he has collected 125 pounds, but doesn’t plan to stop even if he reaches his goal.
Last spring, Galesburg City Council Alderman Peter Schwartzman and a few others helped him pick up Losey street, and in the spring of 2014 he organized a clean up with Alderman Wayne Dennis.
Barton says he does it to make Galesburg a cleaner and nicer looking place to live.