Over the next 12 days, Londoners will focus on ridding the city of pop cans, plastic bags, cigarette butts, and other litter carelessly chucked in parks, school yards and along the banks of the Thames River.
The city kicked off its 22nd annual Clean and Green program on Tuesday at the Springbank Garden Complex on Wonderland Rd. The initiative asks Londoners to pick-up litter in their neighbourhoods and features the 12 Days of Cleaning, a daily awareness campaign on how to prevent littering and illegal dumping from happening.
"There are people unfortunately, who pay no attention and do litter automatically, we are not sure why but they do, said Jay Stanford, director of environment, fleet and solid waste for the city. "It is for that reason that we need all those Londoners that do care about this community to really help cleanup litter or any illegal dumping or point it out to the city and we'll take care of it."
To gear Londoners up for this year's city-wide cleanup, a display was set-up showing the items most commonly being tossed on the ground, including chip bags, straws, and paper cups. A trailer load of bigger items fished out of the Thames, including a couch, tires, and a mattress were also on display.
Stanford said the 12 Days of Cleaning and the London Clean & Green Community Cleanup Day, slated for April 22, provide a great teaching opportunity for parents.
"We always talk about children in school actually having better behaviours than we do, well let's get them fully involved in these types of programs," said Stanford. "On the London Clean and Green program we are making sure that we use all avenues to reach teenagers, young adults. In fact we brought a couple of those members onto the organizing committee because we want to make sure we're capturing their imagination, they are the leaders of the future."
New this year, is the Earth Day 150 Weekend, a Canada 150 London Signature Event. It involved the 20 minute London makeover on April 21, which encourages businesses to take 20 minutes and tidy up outside their offices. That's followed by the the annual Community Cleanup Day on April 22 and the Earth Day London and Trails Open London celebrations at St. Julien Park on April 23.
"London Heritage Council, Trails Open London are heavily programming the event at St. Julien Park," said Lia Karidas, coordinator of Canada 150 London. "So there will be a lot of educational opportunities on site, including understanding better our relationship with the Thames River. There will be lots of outdoor activities for the whole family as well."
London Clean and Green was first launched in the city in 1996 as a single cleanup event. It has now extended to over 85 days, beginning with the cleanup, followed by several greening events in May and June.
According to Stanford, 50 local businesses have already signed up for this year's 20 minute makeover.
"Some people report to us in advance, some don't. The most important part is taking action. Whether you tell us or not, please do your part," said Stanford.
Londoners can register their cleanup locations, although it is not required to participate, at www.londoncleangreen.ca.
