Tag Archives: Clean Up

Renfrew Ravine Park Spring Clean Up April 11th

5 Apr

Have some free time on your hands and wish to get involved in your local community? Still Moon Arts Society is hosting a spring clean up in Renfrew Ravine Park April 11th from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. This is a great opportunity to give something back to a local park. On April 11th a group of volunteers will be picking up trash and doing a bit of weed maintenance, specifically culling a few invasive species like English Ivy. All ages are welcome to participate. Meeting location is 3958 Renfrew Street. For more information on what you should bring (outside of your mask), visit Still Moon Arts Society or email adrian@stillmoonarts.ca.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

World Clean Up Day September 21, 2019

18 Sep

world_cleanup_day_2019_27836This Saturday, September 21st is World Clean Up Day and honestly, this planet could use a little help.  Did you know that last year’s World Clean Up Day brought out 17 million people spanning 158 countries? Many people have seen videos or photos of the volumes of plastics and micro plastics floating in our oceans. We are all connected by these waters and as a City that is surrounded by water, the little things we do or don’t do every day have an impact on our environment. We are regularly surprised, amazed and disappointed how much litter is tossed in our local waterways, streets, sidewalks and parks.  Living along the Fraser River in SE Vancouver, we regularly see the total lack of any thought for the urban wildlife that is home to this area.  This area regularly sees visits from hummingbirds, chickadees, sparrows, eagles, hawks, crows, ducks, seagulls, Canadian geese, mink, beavers and most recently a deer along with the odd sea otter sightings.

Seeing the wildlife on a daily basis, residents in this area of Vancouver are passionate about regularly picking up broken glass, garbage, plastics, bottles, cans, fishing line, fishing hooks, straws and much more. There are of course garbage bins around, but for some reason, it’s too much effort for some to carry their own items a few feet to a bin.  Many of us were brought up with Don’t Be A Litterbug, but the more recent generations have had a much stronger focus in school on recycling and protecting the environment. There is a disconnect. We don’t know quite know how that happened as it’s there, we see it daily.  But what IF every resident took 15 – 20 minutes in their own neighbourhood and did bit of a clean up. The City would look a look better. Wildlife would thank you. We would thank you.

You can do something to help make the world a better place on World Clean Up Day, or every day.  Start a new habit, make a commitment to do something different. Donate clothing to a charity or thrift shop. Repurpose something. Fix something instead of throwing it away.  It can be small, small steps is where we all start.  If you are up for tackling something bigger like a neighbourhood clean up, the City of Vancouver has you covered.  To learn more about organizing a clean up or participating in one that’s already organized, visit Clean Up Party.

If you decide to tackle some clean up in your East Van neighbourhood, send us a photo, comment or email, we’d love to hear what you did.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Earth Day Is April 22nd. Will You Make A Change?

17 Apr

EarthDayGrassEarth Day is a global event that happens this Monday, April 22nd.  It is believed that  more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. Personally, we think earth needs a little TLC.  If you pay any attention to the news, climate change is happening and living in a coastal community, we will clearly be impacted. So why not doing something to help our environment for Earth Day?  It can be small, it can be big, whatever your time allows. We challenge our readers to take 30 minutes out of their day to do something they haven’t done before that makes a small difference. Think if 100 people that read this post and switched just ONE reusable bag for a plastic bag, that would be 5,200 less plastic bags in our environment in one year’s time! That is nothing to sneeze at.   We’ve compiled a list of simple suggestions that may not seem like a big deal, but making one switch on Earth Day and continuing with it, most certainly DOES make a difference.   Here are a few simple things you can do this Earth Day:

1.       Buy A Reusable Bag and use it! Don’t leave at home or in the trunk of your car.

2.       Buy a Reusable Produce Bag. Pssst Second Nature Home carries them.

3.       Buy A Beeswax Food Wrap & use in place of plastic wrap. Again, Second Nature Home carries them or you can order online from Abegoo in Victoria (Free Shipping in Canada). Just saying.

4.       Organize A Neighbourhood Clean Up.  The City of Vancouver hosts Keep Vancouver Spectacular. It’s easy and it’s free and available year round.

5.       Visit Vancouver’s Zero Waste Centre online or in person to see everything that can be returned there.

6.       Plant Something (A Tree, Pollinator Plant, Wild Flowers). David Suziki breaks down How To Create A Pollinator Garden.

7.       Need some motivation to make a change? Watch and share Greta Thunberg’s TED Talk.  This 16 year from Sweden is our new hero.

8.       Sign up for a car sharing service.

9.        Walk, cycle or transit where you need to go on Earth Day.

10.       If you are looking to get your hands dirty with others, help plant some trees.  River District & Everett Crowley Park Committee will be planting 1,000 native trees into Everett Crowley Park 11 am – 3 pm on April 27th.

Making a change is in your hands.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Plogging – Running For A Reason

2 Oct

WhatIsPloggingThis term has crossed our path a few times recently. Curious about the term, it just happened that an article entitled “Run For A Reason” landed in our lap. What is it?  Plogging started in Sweden and is a mash of ‘plocka’ meaning to pick up and ‘jogga’ meaning of course to jog.  It’s a concept taking hold across Canada and the world.  It is  deemed as a ‘new environmentally friendly fitness craze’.  It’s simple, you run and pick up litter while you jog, or at the end of your end for 10 minutes. You can do it in a group, alone, with your kids.  All you need outside of your running shoes, are gloves and a bag to pick any garbage.

As a resident that lives on a public walk and bike path in SE Vancouver, many residents regularly pick up garbage while walking our ourselves and/or our dogs along the Fraser River. It not only protects those of us in the community, it’s greatest benefit is in protecting the wildlife whether on land, air or water.  So if you are not a runner, no worries, If you think you’d like to do this regularly and need supplies, we encourage you to contact the City of Vancouver’s Keep Vancouver Spectacular Program.  They are able to provide bags, gloves and tongs to those undertaking any clean ups in the City of Vancouver.

If you want to learn more about Plogging in Canada, there’s a Facebook page. We encourage you to check out and get plogging!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Keep Vancouver Spectacular Clean Up Campaign May 2014

21 Apr

KVSSouthHill#1Every Spring, the City of Vancouver, puts on a city-wide clean up campaign called “Keep Vancouver Spectacular” during the month of May.  This initiative began in 1996 and was a co-orindated effort between the City of Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver and Oceans Blue Foundation. It has evolved with a variety of sponsors over the years. People get together individually or in groups to clean up their neighbourhood streets, lanes, parks and shorelines. The City of Vancouver supplies the tools which include:

• Garbage bags
• Gloves, cleanup tools (tongs)
• Free pickup of litter collected

As a past Block Captain, there is satisfaction in everything looking green and clean in your neighbourhood. It is amazing how much garbage can be picked up with a small group of people. It is rather simple if you are the one doing the organizing. You simply go online fill out the registration form. After that, the City delivers you the requested items. Enlist a few volunteers. Designate a location that everyone in your group returns the garbage to. The City will pick up the collected garbage from that designated spot. The time commitment is what you make it, but generally 1 to 2 hours is the average. If neighbours need a little encouragement to participate, truth be told, I have enticed a few neighbours with fresh coffee and baked goodies. This event is a great way to build community and get to know your neighbours and of course everything looks so green and clean afterwards.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Block Captain, the City of Vancouver provides a Block Captain Manual which is fairly straightforward and available to download online.

Did you know, in 2012, 16,400 volunteers in 180 groups came together to fill more than 6,000 bags with litter. Now that’s truly spectacular!

Tags: , , , , ,

%d bloggers like this: