Spring has sprung and that means one thing: it’s spring cleaning season.
On Sunday, April 22, which just so happens to be Earth Day, volunteers are taking to the outdoors around Shawnigan Lake for an “I Love Shawnigan” Clean Up Day.
The goal? To take the trash out of their treasure.
“It’s a great community initiative to celebrate Earth Day,” said Area B (Shawnigan Lake) director Sierra Acton. “As a community we all love where we live and cleaning up exemplifies that.”
Litter attracts litter, she said, and “we will not tolerate garbage in our area.”
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the volunteer crew will muster at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre in the morning to register and get instructions.
Folks can also sign up at www.southcowichanrotary.org where more information about the event can be found.
The initiative is sponsored by the South Cowichan Rotary Club, and the CVRD, together with P.A.N. Disposal and Fisher Road Recycling.
The CVRD has also launched an illegal garbage campaign for Shawnigan Lake using a multitude of media to target the problem, Acton noted.
“Radio ads, billboards, park signage and heightened enforcement…” she said. “We want to keep our gem of an area beautiful and pristine.”
According to Kim Barnard, the “I Love Shawnigan” Clean Up Day facilitator, one of the hot topics around the event has been the “mess magnet” zones around the mailboxes and newspaper delivery boxes in the community.
“I’m advocating for ongoing Litter Watch community champions to take on these areas and keep them tidy so they don’t attract more careless littering,” she said.