Neighbourhood advocate Sarah Dantzer hunted down a dozen “neighbourhood stewards” for the Second Annual Rupert Rubbish Round-Up on April 8.
Together the group cleaned east side residential streets and collected everything from spare tires to shingles, wood, rusty tools all the way to entire computer towers, found just off Overlook Street.
“This initiative is much deeper than picking up garbage. This is about building our community, which feels a bit lost in translation with all the new age distractions,” said Dantzer.
“We’ve never before been so connected, yet at the same time, we’ve never been so disconnected.”
Dantzer knocked on doors throughout her neighbourhood and got a few neighbours to come help out. Also, other stewards came out from across town to help out such as Andrea Pollock, Ashley Hunt, Erik Brooke, Frances Riley, Jessica Newman, Kelli Hawkins, Lionel Conant, Lisa Pretulac, Meghann Patterson, Ralph Weick, Randy Kujawa, Richard Haley, Sandra Smith, Sara Jordan, Shannen Bosco, Shantelle Berry, Tera Marhauer, Veronika Stewart and Dantzer herself.
Any recyclable material, such as bottles, were donated to Gracie and Coral and the rest of the Prince Rupert Brownies.
“Together, we will bring out the fun neighbourhood community that our grandparents love telling us about,” added Hunt.
The City of Prince Rupert’s public works department and the North Coast Regional District’s recycling committee supported the initiative by waiving landfill fees and Shoppers Drug Mart, Safeway, Island Sugar and Eco-Management also sponsored the event.
Dantzer and her neighbours are already thinking of big-vision plans such as a building a greenhouse and trail at the end of Overlook Street and Dantzer is looking to add to the growing Canada-wide ‘Butt Blitz’ campaign coming up on May 6, 2017, where hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts are collected and recycled (they are not decomposable) through TerraCycle Canada.
To be involved with this and of course, the third annual Rupert Rubbish Round-Up next April, contact Dantzer at sarahdantzer89@gmail.com