A flat screen TV, a table, two sets of skis, assorted plastic objects, a bucket of concrete and a snowboard. Those were just some of the items volunteers removed from the upper reaches of a salmon bearing stream last weekend, and that’s an improvement over past years.
“The more public education we do the less we have to rectify. There’s less cleanup to do, because people are getting the message,” said Ulryke Weissgerber, a supervisor of tenant programs and services with the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation.
The annual Eagle Creek cleanup event has been going strong for four years. In all, Weissgerber estimated 50 people came out. The Eagle Creek Streamkeepers, the Greystone Village Tenants Association and the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation organized the event, where volunteers pulled garbage from the creek and marked storm drains, so people know they lead to salmon habitat.
The Eagle Creek Streamkeepers, the 13th Southwest Scouts club, Rotaract, and the Croatian Fish and Game Club all sent representatives to help with the event, and volunteers from the tenants’ association pitched in. Businesses from the nearby mall helped with food and donations.
There was children’s entertainment, with balloon art, and a ukulele club played for the volunteers.