Around 250 people helped pick up trash in locations in and around Terrace on Earth Day, filling a 40-yard dumpster bin and several truckloads of garbage in a matter of hours.
“There was a lot of garbage diverted this year,” said Tara Irwin, city planner. “More garbage than I expected.”
The Community and Riverside Earth Day event, hosted by the Terrace Beautification Society, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust and the City of Terrace, started and ended at the George Little Park.
Participants travelled across town at noon to clean areas including the downtown core, the property behind the Chill Soda Shop on Hwy 16 and trails branching off the base of Terrace Mountain.
“In some spots we sent people out to the south side, which was rough this year,” Irwin said. “The whole area looks really great now.”
Others were sent to Thornhill to gather garbage along the ferry island bridges, while a volunteer from Canadian National Railway led a group to clean along the tracks, a location that is usually off-limits to regular volunteers because of safety concerns.
Conservation officers also came out to haul garbage from some of the illegal dumping spots around town. However, they noted that some of the spots were harder or impossible to get to this year with the amount of snow still on the ground.
After the pick-up wrapped up around 3 p.m., participants headed back to George Little Park and grabbed ice-cream coupons and tickets for a free barbecue, where hungry volunteers munched on 150 hotdogs and hamburgers.
Thirty-five kids took part in the games and activities provided by the Skeena Wild Conservation Society, and the live music from Tiny Tones and Late Night on Air tied the event together, according to Kerry Giesbrecht from the Terrace Beautification Society.
She said that while the annual garbathon is a fun community event to celebrate Earth Day, it’s also one of incredible importance.
“Hopefully there will come a point where we no longer need to do this every year, but right now we do,” Giesbrecht said over the phone.
“It’s important that the pristine environment that we see all around us is also brought into our community.”
READ MORE: Several hundred participate in annual Terrace, B.C. garbathon
Giesbrecht said last year, volunteers and conservation officers picked up over four tonnes of garbage in areas all over the city, including illegal dump sites in and around Terrace.
To try and help visualize that amount - one ton is equal to 2,000 pounds, which roughly breaks down to 115 bags of trash. Now, multiply that amount by four.
“It was staggering,” she said. “And the changes are noticeable. Especially in the spring, when everything is coming up so green, it just speaks to why we do this every year.”
Giesbrecht said she encourages residents and families to pick up trash on their own properties a year-long commitment.
“If everyone can tackle a little bit and keep on top of their own areas we can make sure our community is clean year-round,” she said.
“It’s tiring work, and people are sore the next day, but they’re in it wholeheartedly and know it needs to be done.”
brittany@terracestandard.com
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