Gloves, grabbers and garbage: P.E.I. roadside cleanup marks 53 years

For the 53rd year, P.E.I. residents are taking part in a provincewide campaign to clean up trash in their community.

CORNWALL, P.E.I. - When students arrived at Brenda Larsen’s grade six classroom at Eliot River Elementary earlier this month, they found yellow trash bags waiting on their desks and an unusual assignment: picking up garbage.

The class took part in the P.E.I. Women’s Institute Roadside Cleanup, a provincewide campaign now in its 53rd year that brings Islanders of all ages into ditches, along roadsides and through their neighbourhoods each spring.

“First, they were a little bit shocked,” Larsen said, adding the students soon became enthusiastic, with some asking for extra bags. “We advocate for children to look after their environment, so it’s a helpful thing that we can encourage them to clean up their area.”

Cormac Power, 12, said he picked up more than a dozen pieces of garbage, including cans scattered in some rose bushes near a ditch in his neighbourhood. Other than the thorns, he enjoyed it.

“(It) didn’t really feel like homework, just felt like helping the environment,” Power said. “I don’t like animals getting stuck in garbage or eating it. If they ate one of those pop bottles, it’d be bad for their digestive system and they might die and that’d make me sad.”

Sierra Wilson, 11, filled two bags with help from her dog, Hunter.

“It was really fun,” she said. “I got fresh air.”

Adelaide Stevenson, 11, worked on a road and forested area close to her home, finding metal scraps, cigarette boxes, snack food packages and plastic. She said there was so much metal that her dad had to go back with his truck to collect it.

“It was really fun because I got to go on a walk and I like doing that,” Stevenson said. “But the fact people just started leaving this garbage is really stupid and it sucks.”

Participants had the chance to enter a random draw for cash prizes by submitting a photo of their cleanup team in action.

Behind the yellow bags is the P.E.I. Women’s Institute, an organization that has been around for “a fabulously long time,” said environment convener Sarah Outram.

The province’s first branch was established in 1911, according to the organization, which now has more than 70 branches and about 1,000 members.

“I know there’s some criticisms with cleanups that the garbage is just going to be there again next year,” Outram said.

While that may be true, she adds the annual event is also a way to raise awareness about single-use plastics, litter and improper disposal, and their impact on the environment, ecosystems and individual species.

“There’s so many reasons why this is an important event and a great way to get involved in community,” Outram said. Last year, Islanders collected thousands of kilograms of garbage.

This year’s cleanup took place on May 9, with bags available at several locations, including ACCESS P.E.I. sites, P.E.I. Public Library Service locations, Anne of Green Gables Chocolates stores and Island Waste Management Corporation facilities. Clear plastic bags from home could also be used.

Participants were asked to leave large items and bagged litter next to serviced roadsides. The Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy began picking up the waste bags on Monday.

The institute’s president, Carolyn MacFadyen, takes part too. This year, she said one cleanup near the end of her driveway involved rappelling into a ditch with help from her husband and a rope.

“He tied it on to the guardrail and down I went,” MacFadyen said with a laugh.

She said participants should also be mindful of safety, especially when working near traffic.