Over 2,000 volunteers to clean the city's rivers and parks this weekend
For the 53nd year in a row, volunteers will be taking to the city’s rivers and parks to tidy Calgary’s green spaces up.
This year’s Pathway and River Cleanup will take place this weekend, September 18 to 20.
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Over 400 kg of recycling, trash, and organics are removed from Calgary’s pathways and rivers each year during the annual cleanup, according to a release from the City of Calgary.
The cleanup was rescheduled to this September weekend and spaced out over three days to allow for social distancing.
Unfortunately for those looking to participate, the official registration for this year’s event has now closed — though the city does note on their website ways in which Calgarians can participate, regardless.
Anyone hoping to see photos of the event (and they usually find some wild stuff) can check out #yyccleans on social media.
According to a tweet from the City of Calgary, the initiative was started back in 1967 by 12-year-old Sandra Crawford after she saw a mattress in the Elbow River and decided to actually do something about it.
While she couldn’t haul the soaking wet mattress out on her own, she wrote the Calgary Herald about her plight, starting the first ever Pathway and River Cleanup — basically the 60s equivalent of starting a social media movement.
It may sound strange, but the goal for organizers is actually to collect less garbage each year — in that they’re hoping there will simply be less litter made by Calgarians in the future for them to pick up.
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