Nova Scotia’s largest volunteer-driven community clean-up program underway
Posted Apr 4, 2018 06:50:41 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The signs of spring are all around us.
Birds are singing, buds are starting to appear on trees, and melting snow has uncovered mounds of litter.
The Clean Foundation is encouraging Nova Scotians to get out and pick up trash in parks, neighbourhoods or along our shorelines.
Anna Weinstein with the organization told NEWS 95.7's The Rick Howe Show community groups, teams, families and individuals can sign-up to volunteer for their Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up.
“We provide bags, gloves, safety information and we just want everybody out there picking up litter.”
She said some groups make it fun by holding competitions such as a litter scavenger hunt, or encourage kids to participate by allowing them to keep all the money they get from turning in recyclables.
People can just go out and pick up trash on their own, but Weinstein is hoping they officially register.
“We also collect statistics all around the province so that we have a sense of how much litter we're keeping out of our green spaces,” she explained.
Participants will be asked how many bags of garbage and recyclables they collected, and if they found any unique items.
The event is entering its 30th year. According to the Clean Foundation, last year 9,600 people went out and picked up 11,400 bags of garbage and almost 1,300 bags of recyclables.
Some of the most common items were coffee cups, cigarette butts and food containers.
The most unusual finds included counterfeit money, a cross country ski, a climbing wall, a urinal and a plastic carnival ride horse.
Those interested can register online.
