Pitching in to pitch it out: Groups gather for Winnipeg's annual litter sweep up

Every man's trash is nobody's treasure.

The annual spring effort to sweep streets and sidewalks clean of trash, junk, garbage, refuse, rubbish and all things litter-related has begun with help from dozens of groups,says Tom Ethans, executive director of Take Pride Winnipeg.

"We're getting calls every day from groups that are looking to do cleanups," said Ethans.

"School groups, business groups, community groups, church groups, individuals, are all getting in touch with us to get bags and gloves and litter pickers to go out and help make our streets litter-free."

Groups and citizens adopt streets, neighbourhoods, parks and waterways to clear them of accumulated winter trash, said Ethans.

"Over the winter, it's impossible to really get out there and clean up a lot of the litter," he said.

"It just, it stays there for five months and whatever else is out there will just accumulate in the snow and get stuck and frozen to the ice and the snow, and so when the snow's all gone, all of a sudden, we look horrendous."

The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ started its cleanup efforts Monday, with teams near Thunderbird House and Millennium Library Park. They collected a Dumpster's worth of trash and then some.

Other groups are heading out this week and next, most of them through local community organizations. Anyone wanting to find a group to join or start a group themselves can call or email Take Pride Winnipeg.

Take Pride's goal every year is to have the city cleaned by mid-May, said Ethans.

Street sweeping begins

The city of Winnipeg's spring cleanup began Sunday night. All roads, including backlanes, will be swept over the next several weeks.

"Work will initially focus on the downtown area, major routes, bridges and overpasses," the city said in a statement.

Sidewalks,boulevards and active transportation paths will also be swept, and clean up will begin in city parks. Boulevards in residential areas will be limited to where there is a lot of sand, they said.

During cleanup times, there will be temporary no parking signs placed on some streets. Parking between these signs at the posted time will result in a ticket and tow.

Residents are asked not to rake their yard waste into the streets so it doesn'tclog drains.

The cleanup effort will cost $6 million.