Annual spring cleanup is underway

St. Boniface

Spring has come, and this is the time of year for community cleanups.

The annual melting of snow leaves behind litter that was buried over the winter. I recently attended community cleanups in Windsor Park and Southdale that were hosted by Winakwa Community Centre and the Southdale Residents Group, respectively. In addition to the cleanup work being done by committed volunteer residents, the gatherings were a time to simply get together as a community.

Equipment such as gloves and garbage pickup sticks and bags were provided. Each small group of volunteers was assigned to cover a certain area and, depending on the number of people working together, it often didn’t take much time for an area to be covered. In the end, multiple bags of mostly small litter items were picked up and sent to landfill. Cigarette butts and torn pieces of disposable coffee cups may not seem like much on their own, but they add up to multiple bags once collected.

Dozens of community cleanups take place all over the city each year, but there are two more in the St. Boniface ward coming up very soon if you’re interested in participating.

The Island Lakes Residents Group community cleanup will take place on Saturday, May 23. They will meet at 9 a.m. in front of the famous clock tower. In addition, the Norwood neighbourhood cleanup, organized by the Norwood Community Centre, will take place on Sunday, May 24. Both events have family fun activities organized for the afternoons after the cleanup, with the Island Lakes activities taking place at Lindsey Wilson Park and the Norwood activities taking place at Norwood Community Centre.

Thank you to the organizers of these events and the volunteers doing their part to make their communities nicer places to live. The city also has a role to play, as there are thousands of public garbage and recycling receptacles citywide which are the responsibility of the Public Works department to maintain and empty. If you ever see one that is overly full, you can report it by calling 311.

If you are interested in starting a cleanup of your own, Take Pride Winnipeg receives funding from both the city and the province to help with local beautification and cleanliness efforts. For more information, visit Take Pride Winnipeg’s website at takepride.mb.ca.