West End cleanup postponed, to be rescheduled

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/03/2021 (797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’ve rediscovered the joy of housecleaning. Small chores like picking up after myself and vacuuming are great stress-busters in these uncertain times.

I may have taken it too far, though. My colour-co-ordinated bookcase groups books with blue, white, black, orange and beige spines. The rest of the books I collect end up at a nearby Little Free Library. Another bookcase is painstakingly curated and everything has its set place – art technique books, articles I’ve written that were actually printed, DVDs and so on.

But housework beats listening to the COVID bulletins on the radio and hearing about the rising numbers of variant cases, for me anyhow.

I really wish I could get as enthused about picking up the garbage littering my neighbourhood. Take Pride Winnipeg recently announced the results of its annual litter index,which found that this year the West End was the city’s dirtiest neighbourhood. That more litter than usual had been lying underneath the snow this winter doesn’t come as any surprise to many of us. Chances are that some of it will be those ubiquitous non-medical masks.

Picking up garbage can be an overwhelming task when you go at it alone. It is strewn far and wide. Candy bar wrappers, potato chip bags, non-medical masks, cigarette butts . . . Luckily the annual West End Spring Clean-up will happen soon. This cleaning bee was orginally scheduled for April 17 but was postponed due to the unseasonable snowfall, and it still promises to be a great opportunity to re-connect with friends and neighbours while spending time outside. Social distancing occurs naturally during the community cleanup, as it only takes two or three folks to clean each section of a road.

You can register and pick up trash grabbers, gloves, bags – and, this year, hand sanitizer and masks, outside the Daniel McIntyre/St Matthews Community Association, the Magnus Eliason Recreation Centre and the West Central Women’s Resource Centre.

As long as supplies last, there will also be free T-shirts commemorating the day. Even if you aren’t participating but have lots of old electronics at home, the (DMSMCA) will be collecting e-waste in its parking lot and giving it to Mother Earth Recycling, which runs training programs for Indigenous youth.

Anne Hawe is a community correspondent for the West End. She can be reached at annie_hawe@hotmail.com

Anne Hawe
West End community correspondent

Anne Hawe is a community correspondent for the West End. She can be reached at annie_hawe@hotmail.com

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