The 2022 Let’s Pick It Up, Salt Spring campaign is now underway, with community members and groups invited to clear island roads and beaches of trash and other debris through the month of April.
Now in its fourth year — we started in 2018 but skipped 2020 due to Covid-19 — more and more people and groups have joined in each time. You don’t need to tackle a huge area to have an impact: every little bit counts! Watch this space in coming weeks to see which roads and beaches people have committed to cleaning up, and we hope you will be inspired to add your name to the list. Just give us a call at the Driftwood office — 250-537-9933 — email to news@gulfislandsdriftwood.com, or drop in to see us at 241 Fulford-Ganges Rd., Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Once again our campaign sponsor Laurie’s Garbage and Recycling is providing bags and covering garbage disposal costs for those who want to use that benefit. And TJ Beans is offering a complimentary coffee, tea or hot chocolate to participants. After registering through the Driftwood office, just drop by to get the required coupons to present to Laurie’s and TJ Beans. (People are asked to not include their own household garbage in the bags taken to Laurie’s.)
As you can see from the photos on this page, some people have already started and/or finished the area they chose.
Claire Sicherman and her family are passionate about getting various chunks of debris — much of it from broken-up floats — off of Baker Beach. They spent a few hours cleaning up on Saturday. One piece of debris they cannot deal with on their own is an old float or dock that washed up a year or two ago and is slowly deteriorating, with the bits of styrofoam spreading across a wide area.
“I reported it last year to the government but they said apparently nothing can be done about it. So it’s still sadly sitting there on the west side of Baker Beach spreading styrofoam everywhere,” said Sicherman.
She wonders if anyone on the island would be able and willing to help remove and dispose of it.
Susannah Devitt and Linda Dares volunteered to pick up the trash on Robinson Road again this year and didn’t hesitate in getting the job done last weekend.
We encourage people to send us photos of themselves in action and their trash haul for publishing in the paper and on our Instagram page @driftwoodnews. You can post photos on Instagram with a #letspickitupsaltspring22 hashtag (and tag us, please!) or we can post for you on our Instagram page if you email photos to us.
Check out the list below to see what areas have been pledged so far. Duplication of areas is not discouraged, since more trash will likely accumulate throughout the month.
Thanks in advance to everyone who participates in the campaign and to our sponsors.
• Sicherman family — Baker Beach.
• Linda Dares & Susannah Devitt — Robinson Road.
• Krista & Brent Lefler — Ross Road, Walker’s Hook Road from Ross Road to Grantville Street and lower Grantville Street to the water.
• Elizabeth Nolan — North End Road from Whims Road to North Beach.
• Amanda McLeod – North End Road from North Beach Road to Southey Point Road.
• Salt Spring Sneakers — Walker’s Hook Road and North Beach Road – exact area TBD.
• John Howe — Cusheon Lake Road from Fulford-Ganges Road to Stewart Road.
• Nancy Johnson — Fulford-Ganges Road from the Driftwood office to Charlesworth Road.
• Angie Bailey — Maliview Drive & Whims Road.
• Gail Sjuberg — Cranberry Road from Fulford-Ganges Road to Blackburn Road.