The 27th annual Earth Week Clean Up of Nature Sites in Oakville
on Saturday, April 21, 2018 from 9 am to 11 am is organized by the:
Oakville Community Centre for
Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR)
P.O. Box 52007, Oakville, ON L6J 7N5
(905) 849-5501, info@oakvillepeacecentre.org
www.oakvillepeacecentre.org
THE 27TH ANNUAL EARTH WEEK CLEAN UP PITCHES IN ON SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2018
“Plan now to pitch-in at the 27th annual Earth Week Clean Up of nature sites in Oakville which will take place rain or shine on Saturday, April 21 from 9 am to 11 am,” exclaimed Stephen Dankowich, executive director of the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights.
“The trails, ravines, parks, lakefront or woodlots in your neighbourhood need a good spring cleaning and we are thrilled that there are a record fifty-three confirmed locations for our Clean Up!,” he said.
Here is the list of locations that you are invited to pitch-in at on Saturday, April 21 at 9 am:
WARD 1: SOUTH WEST OAKVILLE (8 locations)
1. Bronte Bluffs Park staffed by Bronte Village Residents Association
2. Bronte Road & QEW car pool parking lot and along the banks of Twelve Mile Creek
3. Bronte Road & Wyecroft Road green spaces with Team Kevin Flynn, MPP Oakville
4. Coronation Park with Halton Police Track Program
5. Hopedale Park
6. Kinoak Arena and Brook Valley Park staffed by The Independents.ca
7. Lakeshore Woods with several meeting spots around Great Lakes Boulevard (10 am start)
8. Woodhaven Park and Sedgewick Park staffed by School Trustee Tracey Ehl
WARD 2: SOUTH CENTRAL OAKVILLE (6 locations)
1. Busby Park staffed by Charterability.com
2. Forster Park with West River Residents Association
3. Lakeside Park with Oakville Museum staff
4. Perkins Passage, meeting across from the Humane Society
5. Waterworks Park staffed by West Harbours Residents Association
6. YMCA for clean up at Suffolk Park and Glen Oak Park too
WARD 3: SOUTH EAST OAKVILLE (4 locations)
1. Clearview Park (on May 12 with Clearview Oakville Community Alliance, COCA)
2. Dunvegan Park
3. Maple Grove Arena and Joshua Valley Park with Joshua Creek Residents Association
4. Oakville Trafalgar High School with eco club members 
WARD 4: NORTH WEST OAKVILLE (20 locations, 2 New!)
1. Aldercrest Park with Park Ambassador Cathy Buchanan
2. Arbourview Park with Oakvillegreen Conservation Association (10 am start)
3. Bronte Creek Provincial Park – Main Entrance with Friends of Bronte Creek Park
4. Bronte Creek Provincial Park – Campgrounds off of Upper Middle Road, Friends of Bronte Creek Park
5. Fourteen Mile Creek Trail at Millstone Park with Halton Green Screens (NEW!)
6. Fourth Line/Upper Middle Road and Glen Oak Creek Trail
7. Glen Oak Creek Trail at Monastery Drive
8. Heritage Way Park with Glen Abbey Neighbours Association
9. Indian Ridge Trail with South Peel Naturalists’ Club
10. Langtry Park with Change by Youth
11. Nottinghill Gate Park with 1st Scouts of the Al Falah Islamic Centre
12. Old Abbey Lane Park and trails between Dorval Drive, Montrose Abbey Lane and Old Abbey Lane (NEW!)
13. Sandpiper Road at Pheasant Lane to Upper Middle Road and north of West Oak Trails Boulevard to 3rd Line
14. Sixteen Hollow Park for trail clean up too off of Westoak Trails Boulevard
15. 2300 Upper Middle Road staffed by residents at The Balmoral
16. TD Bank at Third Line & Upper Middle Road for ravine clean up
17. Valleywood Court
18. Watercliffe Court Pond staffed by Bronte Creek Community Residents Association
19. West Oak Trails Park with the 36th Oakville Guides
20. Woodgate Woods
WARD 5: NORTH CENTRAL OAKVILLE (7 locations, 2 New!)
1. Isaac Park (NEW!)
2. Lions Valley Park staffed by Al Falah Islamic Centre
3. Memorial Park
4. Munns Creek Trails staffed by Park Ambassador Dave Stefan
5. Nipigon Trail with Councillor Jeff Knoll (NEW!)
6. Oxford Park
7. River Glen Park
WARD 6: NORTH EAST OAKVILLE (10 locations)
1. Algrove Park with Councillor Tom Adams
2. Bayshire Woods Park
3. Forest Glade Walkway
4. Glenashton Drive Bridge
5. Glenashton Park with the Oakville Chinese Senior 99 Association
6. Lancaster Woods
7. Litchfield Park with Trafalgar Presbyterian Church members
8. Pinery Park with staff, parents and students at Joshua Creek Public School (also on April 22)
9. Pondview Place; 300 Ravineview Way-The Brownstones
10. Postridge Park
“Please note that it’s not too late to set up a new location for clean up. There still are many green spaces that could use your attention on April 21. Individuals, families, students, clubs, not for profit groups, businesses and governmental organizations are participating in 2018. Bags and gloves will be delivered for your site.
Join in,” he urged.
The event is sponsored by the Parks and Open Space Department which also provides bags, gloves and pick up sticks, displays the map at libraries, recreation centres and Town Hall, promotes the event with mobile signs and donates free skate/swim passes to all site coordinators.
Halton Region’s Waste Management Department sponsors the fees for two garbage trucks, one to pick up metal and one to pick up garbage on the afternoon of the event. Pitch-In Canada also provides bags.
There are a total of 84 local sponsors of the event including 24 new sponsors in 2018. View the list at oakvillepeacecentre.org please.
THE MANY BENEFITS OF THE ANNUAL CLEAN UP
“This annual event is the largest community-wide Clean Up in Canada during Earth Week,” remarked Don Meade, a Board Member.
“The annual Clean Up encourages people to take care of their own neighbourhood and it has contributed to building community by bringing neighbours together. In addition, it saves tens of thousands of dollars a year for the local taxpayer and significantly boosts property values,” he stated.
“The Clean Up campaign is succeeding in promoting awareness and respect for biodiversity, local nature and our trails, parks and waterways. We are beautifying the local natural environment, protecting wildlife and benefiting people’s health while doing our best to encourage environmental activism in our schools and throughout our community,” he noted.
“The Clean Up is a family activity that will be remembered, cherished and talked about for years to come. By participating, parents are educating their children about the importance of the natural environment in a very practical way,” said Mr. Meade. “The Clean Up will allow everyone to enjoy trash-free parks and trails this spring and summer,” he concluded.
HISTORY OF THE ANNUAL EARTH WEEK CLEAN UP
The campaign has been a real grass roots accomplishment. Over the years, citizens concerned about littering and the protection of our local natural environment became coordinators of the Clean Up in their neighbourhood.
Since 1992, there have been a total of 133 location coordinators!
Up to and including the 2017 Clean Up, we have organized a total of 710 neighbourhood clean ups. We began with one in 1992, five in 1993, six in 1994 and 1995, twelve in 1996, twenty-seven locations in 2002, thirty-eight sites in 2004, forty-seven in 2016 and a record fifty-two locations in 2017.
Since 1992, when there were thirty volunteers cleaning up under the Bronte Road Bridge at the QEW, the campaign has involved more than 79,500 students and citizens.
Coordinators have primarily included individuals, families or groups of families working together. Over the years, other not for profit organizations also have played a large role in encouraging participation in this community-wide effort.
Coordinators have regularly reported that their neighbourhood has become a lot cleaner and a lot more liveable thanks to the annual clean up. Many have said that they have less and less to clean up each year with the larger pieces of garbage long ago removed.
Last spring, we were very pleased that a record 52 nature sites were cleaned up. More than 5,050 kilograms of garbage and scrap metal were trucked away after being picked up by 1,500+ enthusiastic volunteers. The response from the community for this event has been tremendous.
Let’s keep it going in 2018!
CONTACT INFORMATION
For more information, please contact the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights at (905) 849-5501, by e-mail at info@oakvillepeacecentre.org or by writing to P.O. Box 52007, Oakville L6J 7N5.
