Fish guts, vapes, car parts: Colchester clean up nets 20 bags of garbage

20 bags of garbage were picked up alongside a road in Colchester as the community worked to clean up winter litter.

Criss-crossing ditches down Dunn Road into Colchester, volunteers collected about 20 bags of garbage during a community cleanup on Saturday morning.

It’s the latest case of outdoor spring cleaning in the community to collect debris and litter that’s accumulated over the winter.

“It’s been good considering, you know, it’s still kind of cold out and chilly out, and people are busy on the weekend, so we’ve had ten people each time,” Sherry Bondy, Essex’s mayor, said of the turnout.

Garbage bags in hand, volunteers found various items left to sit in culverts and along ditches, including old newspapers, cigarette butts, empty water bottles, a bucket of fish guts, and even a dead goose wrapped in a bag.

“It seems like a lot of people’s recycling has blown into the ditch…You know, make sure it’s not blowing around, make sure your garbage is secure, and please don’t litter,” Bondy said.

Recently, a cleanup in Harrow resulted in the collection of 25 bags of garbage.

At this time of year, Bondy said the garbage is more visible because grass and weeds haven’t had a chance to begin growing.

“It’s a good time to clean up in terms of the road because the growth hasn’t started.”

More cleanups are planned in the coming weeks, including in Essex and McGregor.

Bondy said they’re an opportunity for residents to get out and be active, or build up community service hours for students in need.

Essex has adopted bylaws to mitigate the impact of litter, such as policies around released balloons. The cleanups, she added, provide an opportunity to see where waste is becoming problematic, and report back to administration for potential solutions.

“So it benefits the community in so many ways when we get out because we’re seeing what’s going on and we’re fixing things as we go.”