I went to the Spring Cleanup today and took some photos…

First, we met up at the fieldhouse, with Debra dressed up as the Spring greeter:

Debra’s hat:

Coffee, cookies and other refreshments awaited:

On the assignment map I slapped down a post-it note to claim Pontiac street from Patricia on eastwards. Of course, being next to the school and at a secluded corner, there was lots of litter, starting with zillions of cigarette butts.

There were also dumped piles of construction debris, next to a car with someone sleeping in it.

Ironically, a few metres away was a sign about not littering.

Typical of the school area were candy wrappers and plastic bottles of cheap brandy (I found two, other people in other areas found more, and a passing dog walker reported finding similar stuff (and cleaning it up) on their daily expedition). I also found some blue earbuds, an eye safety visor, a large plastic flower pot, broken glass bottles of assorted types, a pile of hair (apparently it doesn’t biodegrade quickly), a downed telephone line, and assorted bits of paper. There’s lots more garbage remaining in the woods on the other side of the fence, since I only had time to do the road side up to the gate to the forest path.

After a couple of hours out in the nice cool sunny weather, everyone brought their garbage bags back to the fieldhouse. Each one contains debris from a block or two of street.

I stuck around for a bit of snacking and chatting at the fieldhouse, and then it was time to go home. Thanks go to Andrea and Ian for organizing it.

– Alex