Weather doesn’t rain on River Valley clean up crews’ parade

EDMONTON – The less than spring-like temperatures Sunday didn’t keep hundreds of people from getting out and cleaning up Edmonton’s River Valley.

Capital City Clean Up (CCCU) held its 27th annual River Valley Clean Up. Over 350 volunteers scoured area parks and trails, picking up litter that’s piled up over the winter months.

“It’s a massive undertaking,” said Program Manager Lisi Monro. “We have so many park sites across the city. The River Valley spans such a huge footage of the space here in Edmonton.”

“We get so much stuff that collects over the winter and it’s hidden in winter, you don’t know it’s there,” added Ward 8 City Councillor Ben Henderson, who came out to lend a hand. “And then spring comes along and the city is not looking at its best.”

Last year, CCCU collected more than 4,000 bags of trash from the River Valley over the spring and summer months. And you’d be surprised the types of things volunteers find.

“Litter tends to come down off of the banks into the valley and we’ll find everything from everyday litter — like fast food items, lots of cigarette butts — all the way to larger items like electronics, bikes, those types of things,” said Monro.

Considering the drizzly conditions Sunday, organizers were extremely impressed with the turnout.

“This is not the weather that we usually have for this, and the fact that people are still out here cleaning is just amazing,” said Henderson. “Without having this number of people out to get this stuff cleaned up it just would not be possible.”

For more information on the CCCU program, visit the City of Edmonton’s website.