School groups, community groups, municipal groups and neighbours all got together at various events throughout Chestermere during Earth Week to help keep Chestermere beautiful.
St. Gabriel the Archangel and Our Lady of Wisdom Schools
On Earth Day which was Tuesday April 22, Catholic schools St. Gabriel the Archangel (SGA) and Our Lady of Wisdom (OLW) both had organized school wide clean-ups which brought hundreds of students and staff outside to pick up garage and beautify their community.
SGA grade 8 and 9 students didn’t stop at their own school grounds either, as a good neighbour project they also cleaned their neighbouring school yard; Prairie Waters Elementary which was closed last week for Spring Break, as well as the community of Oakmere.
Chestermere Dog Park
The snow didn’t scare away three Chestermere residents and their four legged friends from following through on their plan to clean up the area around the community dog park located north of the Town Hall on the west side of the lake.
At 11:00am on Saturday April 26 in the height of the bad weather, Kat Billington with her dog Gracie, Ron Jenkins and his black lab Gus, and Nancy Johansen, owner of Mind Your Manners Dog Training began their quest with gloves and rubber boots, pockets filled with garbage bags and dogs in tow.
Filled with community spirit, this trio did a fantastic job cleaning construction debris, dog waste and other garbage that was hidden under the snow all winter. “Many hands make light work, I hope that more people will read about this and the idea catches on.” said Johansen.
CUI Big Spring Clean Sweep
Also on Saturday, CUI held the Chestermere Big Spring Clean Sweep event in conjunction with Pitch In Week. The recycling round-up was held at the CUI Recycle Depot on the east side of Chestermere where residents were able to drop off their household hazardous waste, document shredding, e-cycling and larger items such as household appliances and mattresses in addition to the items accepted year round.
Involved in this special one day event was Tim Powell, a Clean Pact Specialist with Clean Harbors, who is trained to deal with hazardous waste such as paint, oil, harmful household cleaners and other waste.
Residents could also bring in their outdated, confidential documents that were stacking up as Iron Mountain Shredding were on location with a mobile shred unit for shredding. Donations for the local food bank were collected at the shredding site.
The Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta was also on site collecting items for donation such as clothing, towels, bed and bath items, small appliances, glassware, candles, microwaves, and other household items. CUI is excited to now be offering a permanent donation bin for the Cerebral Palsy Association at the Recycling Yards on a full time basis. The funds raised through the donation bins and pick-up service go toward funding programming within the Association. “We want Chestermere residents to know that we also do residential pick-ups, all they have to do is call us to arrange.” says Daniel Barnett, Operations Manager at the Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta. For more information you can visit their website at www.cpalberta.com.
Donna McCallum, Operations Manager at CUI explains that they encourage residents to bring in their chemicals and other difficult to deal with items during these events, “We will be holding another clean sweep event in October in conjunction with Waste Reduction Week and we hope that residents will participate by bringing in their hazardous waste and other large items then as we are not equipped to deal with it outside of these events.”
Outside of regular recycling like plastic and paper, the CUI recycling depot also accepts some electronics like computers and TV’s on a regular basis. “Alberta has been a leader in getting electronic recycling going and now we are working on expanding the items that we can accept.” explains McCallum.
For more information about the CUI Recycling Depot and what items they accept, visit their website at www.cui.ca.
The Cove
On Sunday April 27, under much sunnier skies than the previous day, dozens of Cove residents came together to clean their community as well. They gathered at 10:00am to begin the massive event which lasted for several hours and included a free hotdog BBQ at noon at the Cove Beach for volunteers.
Cove residents Michelle Bennett, Maureen Speidel, Theresa Olson, Darlene Tuck and Sheena Goulet organized the well-attended event that saw approximately 50 people participate. Together, the collected between 40-50 bags of garbage.
MLA for Chestermere-Rocky View Bruce McAllister and his wife Lisa, along with their young children joined in the Cove community clean-up. McAllister says he’s proud to be part of the community and to pitch in to do his part. “Lisa and I look at it as a great teaching moment for the girls. You’ll note there are lots of kids here and they’re all learning about the importance of community at a young age.”
“I also personally really admire and respect people who come together on a project without reaching out to government for help. Isn’t it refreshing,” adds McAllister. “Darlene Tuck spearheaded the organizing and she should be applauded. We all use that beach in the summertime so it’s nice to see pride in ownership.”
