Young Londoners roll up their sleeves for Earth Day clean-up at Westminster Ponds

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 2:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 26 minutes ago

Diapers, java cups and cigaret butts were among the thousands of items that filled adjacent to 20 ample garbage bags aft an Earth Day clean-up successful southbound London connected Tuesday.

About 40 people, including precocious schoolhouse students, gathered astatine the Westminster Ponds, adjacent Wellington and Commissioners Roads, to tidy the country successful the morning.

"The situation is precise important to me," said Grade 10 pupil Chelsea Mott. "I grew up walking these ponds. I truly similar the outdoors, and I truly attraction for it."

She and immoderate of her classmates from Sir Wilfred Laurier Secondary School were among those who spent an hr walking on the ponds' trails, picking up favored discarded bags, accelerated nutrient packaging and cause containers.

"Some of the alien items we recovered were diapers, a batch of metallic and glass, which is concerning due to the fact that those items thin to instrumentality a batch longer to decompose than astir different items," said Grade 10 pupil Ava Hastie.

The finds were among pieces of garbage that are commonly known problems for the environment, co-organizer Michelle Jones said.

"Garbage bags are inactive a large 1 we spot today," said Jones, the manager of programs astatine ReForest London. "Those volition get caught successful trees wherever animals volition often devour them. You'll besides spot them successful turtle intestines and food intestines."

"Small pieces of integrative that look similar rocks are besides a truly communal 1 that birds volition prime up," she added.

The clean-up is 1 of respective happening successful the metropolis passim April arsenic portion of the London Clean & Green Campaign, which aims to trim litter astir Earth Day.

"The situation should beryllium kept, not lone for america but besides for the different animals and each the vegetation that grows here," said Grade 10 pupil Raquel Gonçalves. "If we're taking worldly from it, we person to astatine slightest springiness thing back."

Participants and organizers some agreed determination are ways for Londoners who missed the clean-up to instrumentality enactment connected Earth Day.

"Even if you can't be 1 of these events, conscionable picking up worldly astir your neighbourhood would besides greatly assistance the environment," said Hastie.

Co-organizer Kaitlin Creighton from the London Environmental Network said Londoners' biology efforts should spell beyond this month.

"It's astonishing to get retired and observe connected Earth Day, but you tin truly instrumentality enactment each azygous day," Creighton said.

"You'd beryllium amazed by conscionable taking 20 minutes, grabbing a garbage container and going retired successful your neighbourhood. Just small actions similar that each time assistance marque a difference."