Calgary's rivers and pathways get a good spring cleaning

Calgary's rivers and pathways are a little bit cleaner thanks to an army of volunteers who got to work this weekend.

On Saturday, a smallgroup waded through the Elbow River, picking up everything from shopping carts to cigarette butts to laundry, while Sunday saw crews descend on the pathways to collect garbage from the banks.

"So far it's been really good. It's early on but we've already found shopping carts and bicycles," said Naomi Gropp, who organizes an in-the-river cleanup annually.

"We found a boat pump, we found a bicycle pump, we found a barbecue. There's all sorts of stuff that we've come up with so far."

For the past seven years, her group has gone where the city volunteers don't, scooping debris out of the river with the help of canoes, rafts, snorkels and wetsuits.

'4,000 kgof trash'

Maggie Nelson is a volunteer program advisor with city parks, which organized the 49th annualSunday pathway cleanup.

"The event gives the city a really good spring cleaning," she said.

Last year the pathway cleanup resulted in over 4,000 kilograms of trash removed from parks and pathways thanks to approximately 2,500 volunteers.

She said cigarette butts are probably the most common bits of rubbish, but there's also been some unique finds like a fully-decorated Christmas tree.

Back on the Elbow River, volunteer Jai Guillemaudesaid they've been finding lots of material, which is both unfortunate and rewarding.

"As a scuba diver, I like to see the water clean. Being a steward of the oceans, any little bit that you can do just helps. All the waterways are connected, so whatever we can do locally helps globally."

Nelson said the cleanup goes beyond sprucing up Calgary's waterways.

"It's also a reminder to Calgarians, the importance of keeping our parks and green spaces clean year round."

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