Local Pokemon Go players are holding environmental cleanups over the weekend in advance of Earth Day.

They were organized by members of the Peterborough Pokemon Go (POGO) community, including Mitch Baldwin, Roberta Hennings, James Adamson and Adam Begic.

Earth Day is April 22. Since it lands on Easter Monday this year, the group thought they'd host the cleanups the weekend beforehand, hoping to gather more people.

Baldwin is one of about 900 players on the POGO discord server, which is similar to a group chat.

Saturday's cleanup starts at 6:15 p.m. at Beavermead Park. Participants will make their way to Nicholls Oval Park.

Sunday's cleanup runs from 1 to 5 p.m. and leaves from Crescent Street, by the entrance to Little Lake Cemetery. The route also leads to Nicholls Oval.

Anyone is welcome to join either cleanup.

Baldwin aims to supply some bags and gloves, but encourages people to bring their own, too.

Organizers will dispose of the waste when the event is over.

To sweeten the pot, there was a bit of incentive for players to join.

Niantic, the company that created Pokemon Go, is offering rewards. During that time, participants can take photos of their cleanup progress and post to social media using the hashtag #AugmentingReality or tagging @nianticlabs

At the end of the initiative, Niantic will tally the numbers and release rewards based on the number of people who took part worldwide.

NOTE: To see what Niantic is offering, go to nianticlabs.com/blog/earthday2019

jessica.nyznik

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