Duty-driven Rubbish Remover

SEVENTY-EIGHT, SEVENTY-NINE; I stopped counting. There was likely seven times that number of cigarette butts stranded along my adopted blocks between 4^th Avenue and 2^nd Avenue on Dogwood Street in Campbell River.

After nearly two years of performing my duty, I still get a great sense of satisfaction tidying up the sidewalks and boulevards in my neighbourhood. I head out the back door of my home with garbage tongs in one hand, a trash bucket in the other and work gloves on both so that I can pick up what the tool cannot.

On Sunday, October 28, 2012, I was humming along toward Bonnie, the tree I’ve adopted along my route, and behold she was standing beside a garbage can cover that someone had absently tossed her way. As I approached, I saw a white plastic bag and a discarded plastic tray that at one time held food of some kind. I shook my head and wondered how she could attract such junk. After clearing the rubbish I continued south and filled my bucket to capacity.

The City of Campbell River has sensibly placed a solid concrete garbage container on my beat so that my regular three buckets of trash can be deposited into it. Where there are humans, there is rubbish, which means that it’s necessary to have a garbage can to get rid of the litter. Refuse collectors are a city’s necessary investment.

Further along my circuit, I stood and stared for nearly a minute at a large pile of cigarette butts left behind by someone who chose to empty their over-filled car ashtray in my path. My initial feeling of disgust turned calmly into a feeling of responsibility. I picked up the butts in bunches and tossed them into my trash pail. I arrived home later, feeling great about my neighbourhood.

Find the things that don't belong

My neighbourhood in my mind's eye

Robin K's Zigzag Hike

  Robin Kaminski is our newest Adopt-a-Block volunteer. For years she’s been removing rubbish from the parking lots at Fisherman’s Wharf and the Heritage Maritime Museum in Campbell River. She has also claimed paths in that area.

Her straight-back, bend at the hips extended-arm pickup style is her preference as she zigzags from one area to another. She uses her body as a tool to retrieve what others have chosen to toss aside.

When you see Robin loading up her garbage bag in the parking lots, a minimum 990-metre trek, use your happy voice to thank her for the good work she does. Or, ask if you can join her.

"When you serve, you see life as whole. Service is the work of the soul."

 ~ Rachel Naomi Remen

Robin's Fisherman's Wharf in Campbell River, BC

Sponsored by the United Nations

Adopt-a-Block Goes Global

Adopt-a-Block has grown to fifteen volunteers who have generously adopted block after block in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada.

Their primary mission is to remove rubbish from the sidewalks and boulevards of Campbell River and nearby districts. Armed with garbage tongs, garbage bags, work gloves, safe needle containers and some a Visi-Vest, the dedicated troop of volunteers humbly remove trash and dispose of it in nearby trashcans. One volunteer has adopted a plot of land in his vicinity and another a tree along her route. The tree has been named Bonnie and she has become the group's mascot.

"We've added our community effort to the United Nations Clean Up the World campaign. It's a worthwhile thing to do," Susan said.

Click this link to find the website, click on Canada to narrow the field and then again on Campbell River to find Adopt-a-Block.  Adopt-a-Block Goes Global

If you are interested in taking up the wonderment of adopting a block of your own, please contact Susan Black at cleanlivingcr@gmail.com.

Tia's Trek to Perks Donuts

ONE OF THE PRIVILEGES of removing trash from the sidewalks and boulevards of Campbell River can be the journey itself.

Tia Ladret, our newest Adopt-a-Block volunteer has chosen an 800-metre round trip trek from the intersection of Peterson Road and 14^th Avenue, east onto Homewood Road to Perk’s Donuts.

Armed with trash tongs, a garbage bag, work gloves and a Visi-Vest, Ms. Tia will work her way past Elk River Timber Road on her right and Maple Street on her left or vise-versa depending on her outlook that day. If you are walking, biking, hiking, skate-boarding, jogging or driving along her route, give her a "Hello” for her dedication to our city and its condition. Or, offer to join her.

Tia's Trek Route

View Tia L. Adopt-a-Block in a larger map

4th Place Winners

Bonnie The Birch

Submitted by Susan Black

I walk south on Dogwood Street several times a week and pass by a tree that seems to be calling out for help. I’ve named her Bonnie The Birch.

During the summer, her little leaves flutter in the wind, calling attention to herself, but no one seems to notice her. Instinctively, when the season changes, she releases her accessories and they fall to the ground around her. In the winter months she stands naked but brave, ready for the spring sun to rebirth her foliage.

She stands a meager four feet tall, stunted I suspect, from lack of water. She stands wedged between two huge logs and is strangled by tall grass and the encroaching bully known as the yellow broom plant.

At her roots, there is discarded debris and one of her branches has a plastic cup dangling on the end of it. That day I stepped up to her and removed the unwanted ornament from her outstretched limb.

The sweet thing is located on the northwest corner of the neighbouring property and it is obvious from her appearance that she is need of water. I’m not an arborist, but if this tree is a birch, as I suspect, then she has shallow roots, which need watering during dry periods. I look at her closely and decide that I will try to find her owner and ask if I can adopt her. So far, however, the property owner has not returned my calls. Patiently, Bonnie remains steadfast.

Sponsored by: Greenways Land Trust

4th Place Winners

Trash Picking Treasures

On Saturday, October 13, 2012, it rained. Thirty-five volunteers gathered under tents at the Merecroft Village parking lot in Campbell River, sipping on hot Tim Hortons’ coffee and stuffing luxuriously sweet Tim Bits into their mouths. I joined the crew at ten o’clock, gulped down a black coffee and headed off with my new friend, Robin, on our 2600 metre trek.

The Greenways Land Trust volunteers had provided us with a set of garbage tongs, a garbage bag, a pair of work gloves and a reflective Visi-Vest.

We found all kinds of discarded things under bushes, floating in water, stuffed between rocks, fluttering from tree branches and sitting on the sidewalk. Our most numerous trash items were cigarette butts and our one-off item was a large wet cardboard box. Three of our greatest finds were a precious herb plant that poked up from a crack in the sidewalk, a tree covered in what looked to be grapes, and a spectacular pink-leaved tree on the grounds of a church.

Two hours later, back at the parking lot, we were rewarded with more coffee and donuts, a Tim Horton’s T-shirt and a warm thank you from the organizers. One of the trash picking volunteers, and a new member of the Adopt-A-Block team, Ms. Tia, shared with me that she had been cleaning rubbish in the nearby forest and came upon a fawn curled up in the bushes. The precious thing didn’t move and so she continued a bit further and found the mother also lying down, out of the rain. She looked at the mother deer and said, “I’m here to clean up your home.”

Trash Picking Treasures

courtesy of www.buckmanager.com