Volunteers scour coulees for trash on Earth Day
By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on April 23, 2022.
Herald photo by Justin Seward
Keely Kavanagh helps Eliza and Eesia Semenuik fill their bag full of garbage Friday during the Coulee Clean-up in the city's river valley.The annual Coulee Clean-Up project kicked off on Friday, which also was Earth Day, in parks all over the city.
The conservation project began in Lethbridge in 2008 and encourages people of all abilities to gather at the coulees city-wide to clean up garbage and help make the river valley a cleaner place.
“This is a great annual project where we clean up our natural spaces and make sure that it’s ready for the nesting season and our wild neighbours that live alongside us,” said Curtis Goodman, Helen Schuler Nature Centre’s resource development coordinator.
The main objective is to pick up as much garbage as possible.
“But I think the big secondary objective is to get people outside connected to some of our natural spaces and understanding that we live in a very special spot that is an amazing place to live,” he said.
On average during a Coulee Clean-Up, 500 bags of trash are picked up.
“That’s spread over 400 acres of river valley land,” he said.
“So, yeah, being in a windy city, the wind obviously will relocate all types of garbage that may have been left behind accidently or intentionally – and so this is just that great way to do a reset.”
The hope after Friday’s clean-up was to get more corporate organizations, sports teams and families to get involved.
“And pick their favourite coulee and make a difference,” said Goodman.
The conservation project will run from April 22- May 31 and more information can be found at http://www.lethbridge.ca/cleanshoreline.
Shoreline Saturdays will happen on the first Saturday of the month beginning in June.
invasive weed pulls will be on the third Wednesday of every month beginning in May.
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