Thunder Bay – LIVING – Today marks the official launch of the City of Thunder Bay’s Spring Up to Clean Up campaign! The City of Thunder Bay has funded this community-wide litter clean up in partnership with EcoSuperior since 1996. We would like to thank our 2021 corporate sponsors, Impala Canada, and Ontario Power Generation, for their generous support of this beloved community campaign! Over the years, this program has continued to grow, with over 10,000 participants annually, working to beautify 200+ areas across our City!
This Spring marks the 25th anniversary of the Spring Up to Clean Up campaign! As the success of the program continues, we are always welcoming new partners, participants, and sponsors. This year may look a little different still as we cannot participate in large group clean ups, however we hope to see the community get out to clean up with their household bubbles and make our City more clean, green, and beautiful!
There are lots of ways for everyone to get involved safely! For example:
- Community Members: Clean up around your block or at your favourite green space with your household unit and pets.
- Workplaces: Encourage an individual 20-minute-makeover event with all your employees that are working from home and encourage their household bubbles to get involved too.
- Schools: Challenge your students to clean up their backyard, block, or favourite park with their household unit as a safe way to get outside and clean up the environment, while educating about the harms of litter in our natural world.
It is not too late for community members, workplaces, and schools to register for a FREE clean up kit! The program will run for the entire month of May, all you have to do is register on EcoSuperior’s website and you will be given details for a curbside kit pick-up. Just by participating, you will be entered to win great local prizes! Be sure to enter our photo, poster, and data collection contests for additional entries.
This year we have also partnered with the Sleeping Giant Brewing Company to create a snack kit available for purchase to enjoy after your clean up! Visit their website for more information, these kits will be available through the month of May.
Program Coordinator, Melissa Davidson, is thrilled by the response to the program already since registration opened on April 1st. “We have already seen an enormous amount of interest in the program with registrations the highest they have been for a number of years. It is great to see so many people taking action against litter before it ends up in our Great Lake Superior”. Sue Hamel, Executive Director –
“It’s exciting that registrations for this year’s Spring Up to Clean Up have been so brisk,” said Jason Sherband, the City’s Manager of Solid Waste and Recycling Services. “The Spring Up program is very beneficial in reducing litter around the City, and it’s great to see so many individuals and families already out doing clean-ups.”
EcoSuperior, has additional words of encouragement: “Being stewards of our collective place we call
home, sometimes includes cleaning up other people’s trash. Thank you to all the hardworking and
inspiring community members who are participating in this program, that will in turn, help keep our living landscape and waterscape clean!”
More information on how to get involved
Register for a FREE clean up kit: Community members, workplaces, and schools can still register their litter clean ups to receive a FREE clean up kit. Sign up online at ecosuperior.org/springuptbay or contact 624-2140.
Purchase a snack kit from Sleeping Giant Brewery:
Celebrate your hard work after your clean up by purchasing a snack kit to enjoy! Each kit includes a FREE medium sized clean up kit, hand sanitizer, and snacks for 4 (add on items are available). Visit sleepinggiantbrewing.ca to learn more and to place your order!
Enter the Spring Up to Clean Up contests:
Help with litter prevention, and enter one of the following contests:
– Photo contest: post to social media with the hashtag #springuptbay
– Poster contest: elementary aged children, tell us why litter is a problem with a creative drawing! – Data collection and litter audit: tell us about the litter that you find for even more entries.
Detailed contest information can be found in your clean up kit information package or online at ecosuperior.org/springuptbay. _______________________________________________________________________Spring Up to Clean Up is a community program funded by the City of Thunder Bay and delivered by EcoSuperior Environmental Programs.
