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Litter Cleanup around the Cameron Recreation Complex, Burnaby

Thank you so much Lower Mainland Green Teamers for joining us to make a difference together:

Aaron, Adelle, Alexander, Alfred, Ana Flavia, Andrew C., Andrew H., Andrew W., Angel, Anim, Anwar, Archie, Art, Athena, Ayaka, Bao, Barb, Cecilia, Chinonye Lynda, Christine, Chun Yin, Dominic, Ed, Elliott, Emilia, Emma, Eric, Eshani, Etsuko, Eun Sook, Gabriella, Gary, Gioia, Giulia, Grant, Helen A., Helen Z., Hong Nee, Hyerim, Jack, James A., James H., James W., Jamie, Jan, Jennifer, Jerry, Jesse B., Jesse L., Jim, Leslie, Linh, Liyuan, Lorenzo, Luca, Lucia, Mei Tak, Michael, Michelle, Mitsue & her 2 kids, Natalya, Navsharan, Nazanin, Nobu, Oliver, Owen, Parwinder, Paul, Petra, Ranjit, Red, Riley, Roel, Rohini, Sean, Sherman, Si Man (Sandy), Simon, Sophia, Thanh, Tony, Trevor, Victor, Viresh (Wiru), Warren, Wendy, & Yanan (Lucas)!

CLICK HERE to see ALL PHOTOS on Flickr!
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This activity was the second 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

  • 91 community members engaged
  • 59 people visited  Cameron Rec Complex for the first time
  • 42 people picked up litter for the first time
  • Over 341 lbs of litter of all shapes, sizes and weights were removed from areas around the Cameron Rec Complex, about as heavy as a Panda Bear!
  • Some of our interesting finds include a bicycle, shopping cart, table legs, step ladder, folding chair, large yellow pylon, lego man, full wallet (which was sent to its owner!)
    • Cigarette butts continue to be the most commonly found piece of litter during our cleanups!
  • 297 hours contributed to keeping our community and environment clean 

Highlights

  • This was our 2nd of 5 Burnaby litter cleanups in 2024, with the first one taking place at the Christine Sinclair Community Centre on May 11, read the summary from that day HERE!
  • We were excited to co-run this activity together again with City of Burnaby Engineering Department staff!
    • Thank you Zac and Rob 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 Councillor Richard Lee joined us, and Mayor Hurley shared his appreciation to everyone for coming together and caring for the community! 
  • Our volunteer Litter Leaders Andrew, Gary, Jan, Rohini, & Wiru did a fantastic job leading our cleanup groups along their routes for the first time!
    • 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!
  • The weather was warm and mild, perfect for a walk through the neighbourhood! Snacks and drinks were greatly appreciated by all!
    • Zac & Rob 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 live in Burnaby, with others joining from across the Lower Mainland, including from New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Delta, Richmond, Port Moody, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Vancouver, and more. Our activities truly bring people together to foster a regional community!
  • People from all walks of life joined us including 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!
  • Special thank you to:
    • Anwar for arriving early to help set up & staying late to lead our pack up
    • Eric & Warren for pushing the shopping cart full of litter all the way back to the community centre!
    • Every single person who joined us for spending this lovely day with us making Burnaby a cleaner place together! 
BEFORE removing litter
BEFORE removing litter
AFTER removing litter
AFTER removing litter
BEFORE removing litter
BEFORE removing litter
AFTER removing litter
AFTER removing litter
Our final haul of the day, over 341lbs of litter removed!
"It was a rewarding opportunity to give back to our community & environment in a team spirit!!! I enjoyed the volunteer interaction, our small contribution in action together and our appreciative leaders!Thank you for organizing such a successful event and your continued efforts in keeping our beautiful city, communities and environment safe and clean. "
NazaninLMGT Community Member
"This activity made me feel the team spirit and the meaning of being a volunteer. When you see that everyone is doing their best to check the garbage and clean up some garbage, you will naturally feel happy when you see the clean environment. This program works to protect the environment and let everyone live in and love a beautiful environment."
Si Man (Sandy)LMGT Community Member
"Thank you for organizing the litter cleanup at Cameron Recreation Complex. I enjoyed meeting new people and helping the environment. The effort put into this event was impressive and impactful. Looking forward to more events!"
AnwarLMGT Community Member
"People work hard to look for garbage, we know the cigarettes and plastic cups and etc. are not good for environment! This program taught us that fresh clean environment is very important to the people and animals!"
Mei TakLMGT Community Member
"I did volunteer work on the route where the children participated, and it was fun to see the children finding trash and being proud. I was also happy to find trash like toys. It was nice to be able to have a good impact on the environment and feel proud while cleaning up cigarette butts and trash."
HyerimLMGT Community Member
"It was great meeting new friends from my community, the whole experience was extremely well organized, from the moment we arrived people were stepping forward to greet us and show us where to go, what to do, to when we finished for the day and were thanked, even the little gift, which was unnecessary but so enjoyed! This was our first time being a part of a clean up and I felt a sense of pride afterwards, and because of the whole experience I certainly will not hesitate to continue keeping my community clean on my own time!"
JesseLMGT Community Member
"I appreciate the opportunity to contribute. I'm also grateful for how our group feels so nurturing and supportive as a community. It enhances awareness and cultivates a deeper appreciation and love for the environment."
RanjitLMGT Community Member
"People holding the program have big smiles. They're well prepared for the activity. Although the email had reminded me to bring snacks, they bring some during the activity."
GabriellaLMGT Community Member
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THANK YOU to the City of Burnaby for the providing 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 2nd 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 LMGT Program 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!

CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for upcoming activities!

Staff Who Made This Activity Possible

Left to right: Ashton, Andrea, & Lyda

 

 Lower Mainland Green Team Program Manager, Ashton Kerr, and Program Coordinator, Andrea Robles, 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 can 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!

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