Over the course of a year, Meewasin runs a number of volunteer events throughout the Valley. That includes beaver tree wrapping events as well as a variety of invasive species removal projects. And each one of them is extremely important for the health of our valued outdoor spaces.
But the backbone of our volunteering efforts is the Annual Clean-Up Campaign which takes place across the Meewasin Valley after the snow melts, starting on Earth Day! But this year, with the help of generous sponsorship to the program for the program, Meewasin is taking things to the next level by holding Fall Clean-Up events in two key locations.
Fall Clean-Up: Saturday Nov 13, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM @ the Northeast Swale.
Fall Clean-Up: Monday Nov 15, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM @ the Weir.
The Clean-Up Campaign is vital
On the face of it, Clean-Up Campaign seems like a pretty straightforward activity. Groups of volunteers head off into the Valley with bags, gloves, and grabbers, and start removing trash. In a sense, it is quite a simple concept but the truth is that it is easily one of the most important events Meewasin has through the year.
Winters in Saskatchewan are long, cold, and usually quite snowy. During the course of the months of cold and snow, a lot of garbage tends to accumulate. This includes everything from chocolate bar wrappers to old tires and beyond. And the need to remove it is incredibly high as all of it can be quite destructive to the Meewasin Valley.
That’s why Meewasin gets out there with the help of the public every spring to remove all of the garbage left behind over the course of the winter. It’s definitely more work than our on staff crews can handle on their own. If it wasn’t for our dedicated volunteer core, we’d spend most of the spring, summer, and fall just picking up winter garbage.
Fall Clean-Ups are also helpful
Meewasin’s Annual Clean-Up Campaign is a popular event that happens in the spring. But that doesn’t mean that other efforts aren’t ongoing. From May to November, small clean-up events supported by Meewasin are run by locals businesses, community groups, and schools.
So far, 2021 has been no exception to this. Meewasin is looking to build on that momentum by holding Fall Clean-Up events with members of the volunteer core in early November, hopefully before it gets to cold or before snow permanently hits the ground.
The goal is to head out key areas in the Meewasin Valley and tidy them up before winter strikes. This will hopefully help lessen the amount of garbage left to clean up in the spring. Unfortunately, new garbage will still accumulate over the winter but if there’s less old garbage left under the snow to clean up, the better off we are.