OPERATION: Clean Sweep!

Yesterday (Saturday April 28) Aiden, Jack and I spent a couple of hours with the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) helping with its contribution toward this years Pitch-in Canada week. It was a beautiful day to be out for sure, and after our experience at the bank machine earlier it felt really good to be doing something positive for the community. It also provided me with the opportunity to try and drive some good values and positive morals into my boys and I think it worked. By the end of the day Jack, my youngest was telling anyone who'd listen how "we're never going to litter!"

This year marked the 41st anniversary of Pitch-in Canada week. According to the Pitch-in site this is the largest and only multi-province environmental improvement campaign in the country, involving some 3.5 million volunteers. The objectives of this years campaign, entitled OPERATION: Clean Sweep include to:

1. involve millions of Canadian, young and old in local projects which clean-up, restore and/or preserve the environment, thereby promoting environmental sustainability and involving both young and older people in local partnerships which benefit and enhance their communities.
2. clean up, restore and beautify the environment by cleaning up litter and other garbage from urban, rural and wilderness areas and by initiating local projects such as habitat preservation and restoration and urban renewal activities, thereby promoting respect for Canada's natural and urban environments.
3. encourage voluntary action as a means of resolving environmental problems.
4. stress the value of waste as a resource by encouraging Canadians to refuse, reuse, recycle and properly dispose waste.
5. educate Canadians to pack-in/pack-out their waste when they enjoy the natural environment.
6. encourage civic pride and develop long-term working relationships for the future which will help local communities develop in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner, thereby leaving lasting benefits.

I'd have to say that these objectives were accomplished in our little part of the greater operation! As I said, it felt great to be out doing something positive for the community and for me, it was even better that the VACC chose a part of my own community to clean up. By the end of the afternoon our group had amassed an impressive (yet somewhat disturbing) pile of rubbish from the area of the TransCanada trail between North Kaslo and the Second Narrows Bridge. We all had a great time in the process.