MOOSE JAW — Nearly 200 residents rolled up their sleeves Saturday morning to take part in Moose Jaw’s citywide community cleanup, with volunteers fanning out across parks, pathways, and neighbourhoods to help prepare the city for summer on May 10.
Organized jointly by the City of Moose Jaw and the Beautification Committee, the event drew more than 150 registered participants at the downtown staging site, with many more joining in from various neighbourhoods across the city.
“We started setting up early this morning, and people were arriving right before 10 a.m. to get their bags and gloves,” said Heather Eby, a city councillor and spokesperson for the event. “We’ve had almost 150 people register and we know there are a few other groups out doing their thing.”
Eby noted that turnout was one of the strongest they’ve seen in recent years.
“Sometimes we’ve only had maybe 50 or 80 people. One year we hit 120. So to see around 200 people taking part today is just fantastic,” she said.
Volunteers chose sites from a city map and spread out across Moose Jaw, cleaning areas from Happy Valley to Spring Creek, thanks to co-ordinated efforts with the Wakamow Valley Authority and other local groups. City staff were also out in force, not only supporting the logistics at the event hub but joining the cleanup efforts across town.
“This location is just for signing up; it’s really a citywide effort,” Eby said about the temporary meeting place at Purposed Financial Corporation at 81 Athabasca Street West. Here, participants were able to enjoy a barbecue sponsored by the Moose Jaw Co-op.
“We had really good representation today. Teams from the City of Moose Jaw were out cleaning, too, and I think that’s excellent.”
Nature Moose Jaw, a local environmental group, also joined the effort. “We picked up about 20 pounds (approximately nine kilograms) of trash — everything from cigarette butts to coffee cups,” said Rich Pickering, president of the group. “It’s just nice to be collaborating with the Wakamow Valley Authority and the other groups involved. It’s our way of giving back to the community.”
Pickering said he was pleasantly surprised by the relatively low amount of trash in some areas, indicating that community awareness may already be on the rise.
“I think we expected more,” he said. “There wasn’t as much as we thought there would be. Hopefully, that’s a good sign.”
All collected waste was bagged and left in designated piles around the city to be picked up by a city crew and taken to the landfill. While a final tally of the total litter collected wasn’t yet available, Eby said she hopes to have those figures by the following week.
The city now plans to expand the cleanup initiative with a second event already scheduled for the fall.
“We’ve already planned a fall cleanup for Saturday, Sept. 20,” Eby said. “We’ll do this all over again and get things cleaned up before the next season comes along.”
She also emphasized the importance of making litter pickup a habit, not just a once- or twice-a-year activity.
“I hope people who helped today will think twice about walking past litter tomorrow,” she said. “If everyone picked up three pieces every time they went out the door, there wouldn’t be any left.”
