Fed up with the abundance of trash they've been seeing, some like-minded Edmontonians have organized to do something about it.
"Once you see the amount of garbage, you cannot unsee it," said Lazina Mckenzie, co-founder of Litter Pickers. "It makes our city look really filthy, and for me personally, it's kind of embarrassing."
Litter Pickers began as a series of conversations between Mckenzie and her friend Dana Bradley. Their "trash talk" led to action with a monthly meetup at parks or neighbourhoods that could use some care. Their next cleanup is on June 14 at Concordia University from 2pm to 4pm.
Mckenzie had prior experience with community cleanups through a fitness community called the November Project and an ambassadorship with Lululemon. She created an event called the Trash Dash that got up to 100 participants in 2024.,
"It was a way for runners and walkers to come together under the umbrella community of Lululemon and pick up trash together," Mckenzie told Taproot.
The first Litter Pickers pickup in Kinsmen Park in April filled 22 garbage bags in just a few hours. The May cleanup at Wilbert McIntyre Park in Old Strathcona yielded another 17.
"We group all the garbage together so we can just see the impact of what we've done," Mckenzie said. "Hopefully we'll be able to accumulate these numbers and see through this little group ... how much garbage we actually picked up."
Downtown has too many overflowing garbage cans and littered sidewalks, Bradley and Mckenzie said, emphasizing the need for the community to chip in and not just rely on the city.
The first Litter Pickers outing on April 12 removed 22 bags of garbage from Kinsmen Park. (Lazina Mckenzie)
"My dad, on his walk downtown, would pick up garbage on his way," said Bradley, noting that if residents see an overflowing garbage can, they can report it via 311. "You have to take it upon yourself to have pride in your community and your city."
Mckenzie agreed. "We live communally, we live in a city altogether, so we all have to take care of where we live."
While it's disappointing to come up, say, piles of cigarette butts that people have thoughtlessly discarded, the group gathers a lot of encouragement, too.
"(We) have people actually honking and saying thank you," said Wei Wong, another Litter Pickers member. "It just makes people aware that you don't just toss cigarette butts out the window, and if they see somebody actually care and clean up, maybe they'll feel guilty next time when they do it."
The best way to keep up-to-date on Litter Pickers activities is through The Pickup Line, the group's newsletter. More help is always welcome.
"I know just by talking to friends, as soon as they found out, everybody wants to join," Wong said. "I think it's a good sign."