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Green thumbs took to the waterways yesterday to dig in and do their part in keeping the city clean.
No pop can or discarded coffee cup was safe, as a coalition of environmentalists, Native groups and volunteers, armed with trash bags and garbage pickers, scoured beachfronts for litter.
Celebrating Canada River Day, members of the National Capital Peace Council teamed with the Riverkeepers to meet at Victoria Island for a blessing ceremony by Algonquin elder William Commanda.
The spiritual leader and peace activist opened the day by inviting guests to lay a symbolic foundation for a proposed Native spiritual healing centre on Victoria Island.
FLOTILLA
A flotilla of voyageur canoes then embarked on a journey down the Ottawa River bound for Petrie Island.
Cleanup teams descended on Deschenes Rapids, Britannia Park and Westboro Beach, leaving no piece of refuse behind.
“I’m amazed by the amount of garbage we found here in just one hour,” said Britannia Park team leader John McKewen. “Hopefully we can inspire people to become a little more careful about maintaining our parks.”
Tanya Andrusieczko, 19, and Jenna Wright, 21, had no hesitation about lending a hand to keep the city clean.
“It’s the least I could do,” said Wright. “It’s all about responsibility.”
“We’re only here for a short time, so we have to take care of what we’ve got,” said Andrusieczko.
“This is the first project we’ve undertaken,” said council founder Daniel Stringer. “Our organization is built of inter-faith people, and of all the projects we discussed, this was the one thing we could all agree on. It resonated with everyone immediately.”
As word of mouth spreads, Stringer is confident this will become an annual event.
Ottawa Sun