Thousands of pounds of garbage was being collected at the Visitor Centre on Northfield Rd. on Saturday, part of an Earth day cleanup by the local Rotary Clubs of Nanaimo and Lantzville. (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

earth day

‘Let’s keep it clean:’ stereos, shopping carts & sleeping bags among garbage grabbed by local Rotary Clubs

Apr 22, 2023 | 11:47 AM

NANAIMO — Five local Rotary clubs in Nanaimo and Lantzville are once again combining to make a difference.

Around 100 people gathered at the Tourism Nanaimo Visitor Centre off Northfield Rd. on Saturday, April 22, also designated as Earth Day around the world, to conduct a community cleanup.

Jill Mont, one of the Rotary members organizing the event, told NanaimoNewsNOW they’re finding anything and everything in the area around the visitor centre and along the Nanaimo Parkway.

“Stuff that people dump from stereo equipment to abandoned camp stuff which you have to be super cautious about, a lot of clothing, a lot of sleeping bags, canopies, tents and sadly a lot of drug use paraphernalia that we may or may not touch.”

Last year’s cleanup saw around 70 people take part, collecting around 2,200 pounds of garbage.

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This year, just over 100 people attended and worked in small teams, with upwards of 3,000 pounds expected to be removed and properly processed.

Clothing, sleeping bags and shelter equipment, all abandoned, were among the items collected during Earth Day cleanups Saturday. (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Rotary Clubs are conducting the work with support from the City, who are providing help with transporting the garbage, as well as providing gloves, trash bags and grabbers.

“It is sad, it is alarming, it is upsetting and it is getting worse, Mont added. “(But) 100 people in a city this size can actually knock a real dent into this in one morning.”

By 11 a.m., piles of garbage including old tools, parts of vehicles and shopping carts were being collected at the visitor centre parking lot.

Co-organizer Evelyn Boegh said those out and about today are a great deal of pride in their community and want to do something to help.

“It’s really good that there’s so many people who care and want to come out and help. We’re proud of our city and this is a really amazing place to live and I want to be able to say to friends that we have a wonderful place to live, let’s keep it clean.”

A final tally of garbage collected will be made available at a later time, NanaimoNewsNOW will update this article then.

Everything from shopping carts to stereo equipment were taken out of the brush and land behind the visitor centre off the Nanaimo Parkway, as well as the surrounding area on Saturday. (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW)

–with files from Kyle Ireland

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