Every year, more than one billion people take part in Earth Day worldwide on April 22 coming together to share thoughts, ideas and actions to ensure the long-term health of Planet Earth.
撸奶社区residents and businesses do a lot every day of the year to help save the Earth. At Two Birds Eatery on Discovery Way, for example, restaurant staff have fully embraced the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) approach to the point of having staff go through the garbage every day to find items that can be recycled, said co-owner Carole Bird. The result is that the restaurant produces about one, 50-litre bag of garbage a day, she said.
We ask people to bring in their own coffee mugs or we try to use our coffee mugs, and we try to use eco-friendly take-out containers, Bird said.
Ninety-nine per cent of our furniture and equipment is from auctions I know how to do wood finishing and I'm handy, and we fix things up and reuse them. My friend's mantel above his fireplace, I turned it into a coffee table that we use in the restaurant.
For the past several years, 撸奶社区residents have taken part in Pitch-In Week, including a neighbourhood clean-up initiative that serves a dual purpose a spring clean-up event that also happens to coincide with Earth Day.
In 2012, 34 groups comprising 1,257 participants some eight per cent of Squamish's population took part in Pitch-In Week. Groups are being encouraged to sign up to receive free gloves and bags, and to be eligible to have tipping fees waived for materials brought into the 撸奶社区landfill.
Pitch-In Week 2013 happens from Sunday (April 21) to Saturday, April 28. MacLeod said he's hopeful this year's Community Clean-Up event will exceed last year's totals.
People can either go and clean up their neighbourhood or their favourite recreation area and [the DOS keeps] track of who's going where so that we don't overlap, if possible, he said.
Of course, this isn't just about keeping the community looking good, but also because whatever is left out can wind up in the river and harm wildlife, or harm the wildlife that's out around the community. We've all seen the pictures of a gull or a seal that has eaten some type of plastic and died from it, which is just tragic.
In addition to the Community Clean-Up, this year's Pitch-In Week includes the launch of the Walk 4 Wildlife, a new initiative that will see Bear Aware co-ordinator Meg Toom lead children on nature walks in and around schools to help them become more aware of issues surrounding wildlife, including the effects that garbage can have.
On Wednesday (April 24) at noon, teams from the District of Squamish, the local media and Howe Sound Secondary School will take part in the Fastest Picker contest to see which group can gather the most trash in a short period.
On Tuesday (April 23) at 1 p.m. at the bus stop at Cleveland and Buckley avenues, officials will place a bench that was fished out of the slough during last year's Fastest Picker event and refurbished by DOS operations staff a good example of the reuse leg of the 3 Rs stool.
For more information about Pitch-In Week activities, or to register for events, visit the DOS website, www.squamish.ca
Britannia Mine Museum, incidentally, is hosting special workshops on Earth Day (Monday, April 22). Guests who show up on the hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. can make their own recycled planter pots. They're asked to bring a sprouting seed that can then be planted in the pot and grow into something yummy. Regular admission rates apply.
Learn what people around the world are doing to celebrate Earth Day and Earth Hour -
