Thank you so much Lower Mainland Green Teamers for joining us to make a difference together:
Adam, Adrian, Adrian, Alexander, Alina, Amos, Andrew, Andy, Anne L., Anne Y., Anwar, Art, Athena, Bo, Cathy, Changle, Cheryl, Connie, Danton, Dayna, Deanna, Demitri, Denise, Desmond, Edwin, Emilia, Emily, Ernest, Etsuko, Evelyn, Feifan, Fuhsing, Gary, George, Gerlinde, Ging, Giselle, Grant, Hanh, Harry, Hoi Ning (Helin), Hong, Hong Nee, Huanfei (Sarah), Hwe jen, Hyerim, Ian, Ivy, Jack, Jackson, Jaehyeok, James, Jan, Jason, Jayden, Jen, Jennifer, Jenny, Jerry, Jiapei, Jie, Jim, Jinhyeok, Jinrui (Ray), Jiwon, Kai, Kelly, Kevin Z., Kevin Z., Kinverly, Kou Hsien, Kun, Kuo, Kyson Jinyang, Lauren, Lena, Leo, Letong (Toni), Liana, Lilliam, Loretta, Lynn, Mark O., Mark W., Mason Jinwen, Mei Tak, Michael, Minjo, Navsharan, Nobu, Queenie, Ray, Reenaz, Richard, Rose, Seoyoung, Sesame, Shane, Shawn, Shina, Shuling, Si Man, Sylvie, Teagan, Terry, Tin Chun, Tin Yau (Tiann), Tina, Toky, Tony, Trevor B., Trevor, Wei, Wendy, Winsome, Woody, Yeonji, Yi Bo, Yixuan (Lena), YongLin (Lynne), & Yuege (Northen)!
This activity was the third of five litter cleanups we are organizing in partnership with the City of Burnaby in 2024! Thanks to activities like these, we are helping to build a sense of community and belonging, fostering a deeper connection to the environment, and inspiring people to take action to care for the places they live in their everyday lives!
Keep reading to see our impacts, highlights and more from the day…
Impacts
- 123 community members engaged
- This cleanup was our BIGGEST one yet, breaking our record of 115 community members engaged at our September 30, 2023 litter cleanup at the Eilleen Daily Pool & Fitness Centre. Read about this past activity here!
- 73 people visited Bonsor Recreation Complex for the first time
- 59 people picked up litter for the first time
- Over 475 lbs of litter of all shapes, sizes and weights were removed from areas around the Bonsor Recreation Complex, about as heavy as two and a half kangaroos!
- This number doesn’t include the heavy items (like a mattress, shopping cart, and more) that we didn’t bring back to weigh, and were flagged for pickup by the City
- This is the LARGEST WEIGHT of litter we’ve cleaned up in once cleanup yet!
- Over 16,000 pieces of litter were tracked and removed including:
- 11,000+ cigarette butts
- 2,125+ bits of paper and cardboard
- 1,489+ food wrappers
- 690+ plastic bags
- 239+ cups & lids
- 222+ pieces of glass
- 124+ pieces of metal
- 101+ bottles & cans
- 84+ pieces of styrofoam
- 80+ electronics
- and more!
- Some of our interesting finds include …
- 10 clothes hangers, a cut bike lock, burned books, a saw blade, an unopened pack of AAA batteries, a dragon toy, hair scrunchie, 50+ unused lotto tickets, slippers, a pacifier, an out of place recycling tote full of garbage, and more!
- We removed much more than what was tracked, as it’s a challenge to track every piece. The goal of tracking is to help communicate our impact further and add to the experience of our community members.
- 410 hours contributed to keeping our community and environment clean
- This was the 3rd of 5 litter cleanups we are organizing in partnership with the City of Burnaby in 2024!
- Read a summary of our last cleanup on Jun 22, 2024 around the Cameron Rec Complex HERE!
- Global News showed up to cover the event!
- We were excited to co-run this activity with City of Burnaby Engineering Department!
- Thank you to City Staff Zac and Travis for leading groups of participants along cleanup routes, manning our tables during the activity, weighing all our garbage bags, and properly disposing of everything that was picked up!
- Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley and Councillors Richard Lee and Maita Santiago joined to show their appreciation of everyone’s efforts and support of our partnership with the City!
- Mayor Hurley shared an inspiring address and thanked everyone for coming together to connect and care for the community!
- Our volunteer Litter Leaders Adam, Alina, Amos, Andrew, Gary, and Jan did a fantastic job leading our cleanup groups along their routes!
- If you’re interested in volunteering to be a Litter Leader at an upcoming litter cleanup, we welcome you to apply on our website HERE!
- This was the first activity for the LMGT’s new Program Manager, Shelley Levis!
- We got to enjoy a beautiful sunny day!
- We had plenty of water and refreshing snacks to keep us cool
- Zac & Travis treated everyone to donuts and timbits while Andrea baked vegan brownies for us to enjoy during our break!
- More than half of those we engaged were from Burnaby, but we also engaged people from across the Lower Mainland!
- Community members joined from Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Delta, Richmond, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Vancouver, White Rock, and more
- Our activities help foster a regional community and inspire people to create change wherever they live!
- People from all walks of life joined us including:
- Members from the Vancouver International Volunteer Association (VIVA)
- 20 community members from Buddha’s Light International Association’s (BLIA) Burnaby subchapter
- Families with small children, students, working professionals, retirees, first timers, newcomers, returning LMGT and City of Burnaby volunteers, including Burnaby Adopt-a-Street participants who help keep their neighbourhood clean!
- Imagine the impacts if each person who joined us adopted their street or block!
- Learn more about the City of Burnaby’s Adopt-a-Street program HERE
- Don’t live in Burnaby? Many municipalities and organizations have Adopt-a-Street or Adopt-a-Block programs. Reach out to your local municipality to learn about options where you live!
- Special thank you to:
- Anwar and all our litter leaders for arriving early to help set up & staying late to lead our pack up
- Every single person who joined us for spending this lovely day with us making Burnaby a cleaner place together!
THANK YOU to the City of Burnaby for their partnership and the financial support and direction to make this activity possible!
Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
This was the 3rd of 5 litter cleanups we are organizing with the City of Burnaby this year. Learn more about & sign up for our upcoming cleanups here!
In-Kind Support
Thank you to Big K Clothing who generously donated safety vests to keep our participants visible, ICS Clean Supplies for donating hand sanitizer and helping us acquire many litter pickers, and the fantastic local eco-friendly businesses, Green Beaver and Honey Candles, that donated products for our hard-working community members to take home!
Please contact the LMGT Partnerships Manager, Ashton Kerr, if you are interested in providing in-kind or have suggestions for businesses to contact.
Why We Do This Work
The Lower Mainland Green Team organizes hands-on educational activities that have a positive environmental impact to empower people. Through activities such as invasive plant removals, plantings, litter cleanups and more, we are fostering connections with others and nature so that health and well-being is prioritized, lifelong environmental stewardship is promoted, and community members are enabled to take care of themselves, each other and the places they live. We all have the power to make a difference!
We all experience mental and physical health benefits from spending time in nature, including reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mood, focus, memory and more. While doing so, we can also have a positive impact on the environment as demonstrated through this activity!
Staff Who Made This Activity Possible
The LMGT has a new Program Manager, Shelley Levis! This was Shelley’s first activity with us and we are excited to have her energy and expertise on board to lead our program and activities moving forward.
Past Program Manager, Ashton Kerr, is excited to have transitioned into the newly created role of LMGT Partnerships Manager. She will be focusing on the building of current and potential partnerships, as well as media relations for our team.
Program Coordinator, Andrea Robles, Ashton, Shelley and work hard behind the scenes to bring these high-quality activities to you.
Partnership building, fundraising, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they do it all!
Our Founder and Executive Director, Lyda Salatian, has done an excellent job leading and laying the foundation for our organization to do what we do. She joined us for this litter cleanup activity!