AAH VOLUNTEER INFORMATION SESSION UPDATE
Transcription
AAH VOLUNTEER INFORMATION SESSION UPDATE
Litterature Litterature Nova Scotia’s Adopt-A-Highway Program Spring 2015 AAH VOLUNTEER INFORMATION SESSION UPDATE We were excited to be returning to Port Williams for our 10th Annual Volunteer Informaon Session, on April 18th. Lewis Benedict, the Chairman of Port Williams Village Commission was kind enough to bring greengs from the area, and shared his appreciaon of the AAH volunteers efforts. We had a beauful day for our session, which started with a bus trip to the Valley Waste Administraon Building. Andrew Garre+, Manager of Communicaon pointed out many innovave products that contribute to the environmental friendliness of this commercial buildings in North America! These included recycled tumbled glass as a mulch, and also was an ingredient I the flooring. Recycled res were used as a stabilizer in the surrounding soil, and recycled newspaper was used as insulaon. The building is passive solar and has very low heang and cooling costs for the year. The volunteers also had a chance to look around the “Last Re-Sort” Re-use Centre. This ingenious idea came about because many items would arrive at the Waste Facility that were sll in good condion and could be used by others. These items are now placed for sale at the Centre at a greatly reduced price, and are diverted from the landfill. We had a delicious lunch that was served by the TOPS #2688 Port Wiliams. Not only is this group amazing caterers, they are also an Adopt-A-Highway group, with their route in the Port Williams area. Our program connued with Gina Bain, who updated the groups with the cleanup results from the previous year, and the acvies within the program. Carson King, Site Inspector with Valley Waste (pictured at right) had very interesng presentaon concerning illegal dumpsites. Andrew Garre+ joined Carson for the presentaon and gave a brief background of illegal dumping including the “who, what, when, why when and how much”. Carson gave a summary of some of the illegal dumpsites he had invesgated in the last year and the varied and ingenious ways he used to resolve the issues. They also discussed what the do to prevent re-occurrences in the same area, and Andrew is shown one of the signs that can be posted at the site. Amy Brown, with Efficiency Nova Scoa shared many of the programs that her organizaon offers to help save electricity. They include Home energy assessments, the Home energy report, Low income programs, home heang advice, appliance rerement, and instant rebates on energy efficient products. They also offer advice with new home construcon, and can arrange financing to help with energy efficient renovaons. They have Energy soluon Advisors who are a great resource to offer personal support, technical advice, and referrals. Since they have started, Efficiency N.S. had served 150,000 customers, and saved millions of dollars in power costs. The Nova Scoa Adopt-A-Highway Program “Put Lier in it’s Place!” VOLUNTEER INFORMATION INFORMATION SESSION UPDATE (CON’T) During our volunteer Round Table, Michèle Ashby of St. James United Church in Angonish shared an experience from last Fall. She asked some of the local fast food restaurants to provide a staff member to help with their cleanup. One restaurant agreed, and provided two staff members, and another business has indicated that they will also help out part in the Spring. Jean McHarq with the Friends of Crescent Beach , Green Bay and Area Society told of their experience of geOng the local Grad 6 & 7 classes of Pete Reviere school to help with their cleanup. They do a road, and also the beach area, and it is a great me to also educate the youth to respect and take care of the beach vicinity. Other volunteer also shared some ps and thoughts on the program. Coni Murray, Co-Chair of the AAH Program, made a special presentaon of a new hat to Nomran Bird( leE). Norman has been a member of our AAH commi+ee for many years, and was a big help with the organizing of the Informaon Session. We were fortunate to have many door prizes for our volunteers, and Gina is shown presenng one to Bill Alexander of the Alexander Family, in Stanley Secon, Lunenburg County. We were fortunate that many members of our Adopt-AHighway commi+ee were able to a+end, These include Mark Durnford, and Mike Turner ( N.S. Lions) Dale Lyon (RRFB N.S.) Charlynne Robertson (Clean Foundaon), Norman and Nancy ( Volunteers– At Large), Coni (Women's’ Instutes of N.S), and Gina. Other members were unable to a+end because of health issues, or prior commitments. Overall it was a ideal opportunity to hear environmental speakers, share and learn from other groups, and get ready for the Spring Cleanup season. RRFB N)*+ S,)-.+- MOBIUS AWARDS Many people in N.S. are not aware of the Mobius Awards but they recognize very important iniaves in waste reducon in our province. Many individuals and organizaons are using ingenuity and innovaon to significantly reduce the amount of waste they send to the landfills. RRFB N.S has set an impressive goal for our province of 300 kg of waste per year per person and these recipients are helping to get us there. The awards were held in October at Pier 21 in Halifax. The inspiraonal guest speaker was Jon Montgomery, gold metal winner in skeleton at the Vancouver Olympics, and host of “The Amazing Race Canada (pictured with Gina Bain, program coordinator, at leE). Jon congratulated N.S. on their waste programs and was aware that we were among the leaders in Canada with reducons in the amount of waste per capita. The Nova Scoa Liquor Commission, was the large business of the year. In recognion of their admirable efforts. They have set a goal of zero waste, and are diverng 9899% of their cans, bo+les, cardboard boxes, plasc bags and everything else from the landfill! Another impressive organizaon that significantly reduced the amount of garbage is Wearwell Garments In Stellarton. They send their fabric scraps to t texle recycler, and reduced their waste by 100,000 pounds per year! They also recycle their cardboard, plasc and refundable containers. They generously donated the proceeds from the refundables to the IWK. It is always encouraging to hear of schools that have great programs to get their youth on the right track. Two schools recognised this year were Thompkins Memorial School in Reserve Mines (pictured at leE) and Northfield Elementary, Lunenburg County (pictured at right). They increased their diversion rate to 75-80% and have implemented many programs that were introduced and implemented by the students themselves . These are just a few examples of excellent efforts around our province to help reach our reduced waste goal. A full list of winners of the Mobius awards are listed on the RRFB N.S.’s website. If you know of someone in your area that is doing an admirable job in reducing/recycling/reusing, please consider nominang them next year for a Mobius Award. F+33 2014 C35+678 958)9A big thank you to all the groups and individuals who parcipated in the Fall 2014 cleanup such as the Dartmouth PigDogs RFC, shown here on their first cleanup on Burnside Drive. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 596 Phoenix Royal Air Cadets, Tatamagouche Alexander Family, Stanley Secon Annapolis Valley Geocachers, Kingston Baha’i Community of Truro, Lower Onslow Bluenose Coastal Acon Foundaon, Mahone Bay Bluewave Energy Ltd., Cole Harbour Broad Cove Community Associaon Coastal Cruisers, Bridgewater Dartmouth PigDogs Rugby Football Club, Burnside Earth Day Friends, Tatamagouche Eric & Joyce Higgins, Higginsville Fellowship Lodge #112 (AF & FM), Bible Hill Forest Heights Community School O2 Students, Chester Grant Friends of Taylor Head Park, Spry Bay Gospel Light Bapst Church Youth Group, Harrietsfield Guysborough Academy Green Team, Guysborough Guysborough Waste Management Facility, Boylston to Monastery Hill n’ Dale 4-H Club, Wileville Kempt Road Group, Grand Anse Knights of Columbus – St. Thomas More Council, Dartmouth Laura Lee and Gil, South Brookfield Mahone Bay Area Lions Club Me to We Group, Tiverton-Freeport Meteghan Lions Club Middleton & District Lions Club Nailed It Construcon, Sheet Harbour (ongoing) New Germany & Area Lions Club Northumberland Regional High School, Alma Point Aconi Generang Staon, Bras d’Or Port Williams & District Lions Club and Port Williams WI; and NKEC Band Rhyno’s Ltd., Bridgewater River John 4-H Club Riverport & District Lions Club Second Paradise Retreat, St. James United Church, Angonish St. Margaret’s Bay Lions Club St. Mary’s District Lions Club The John Howard Society, Dartmouth The John Howard Society, Halifax The John Howard Society, Sackville TOPS NS #2045 East Jeddore Truro Lions Club/2nd Truro Scouts and Venturers, North River White Point Beach Resort, Liverpool T:5 L.--59 C35+678 P59;.I< .;8)9-+6- -) 7<! Please send in your permit to ensure that your group is listed in the latest edion of our newsle+er. This permit gives us important informaon such as the number of hours spent on the cleanups, amount of garbage and recyclables collected, and the number of volunteers that took part. We like to hear about your unusual finds as well. If your group is missing from this cleanup list, please nofy our office, and you will be included in the next newsle+er. U67<7+3 F.6>< You never know what you might find in the ditch, and we enjoy hearing about your unusual finds. Some of the items found in the Fall of 2014 were a reclining chair, microwave oven, drive wheel from a car, windshield, freezer lid, stroller, broom, hair extensions, fishing rod, lei, a safe– (opened and empty), a raccoon skull, washer, brand new teddy bear, electronics board, and a “Dodge Ram” decal. P+-.56,5 P35+<5 ! T:5 G95+- N.S. P.,A-M5-U8 Is now accepting registrations! T he Great Nova Scoa Pick-Me-Up launches this spring and registraons are now open all year round for teams across the province! Spring weather will eventually arrive, and with it the li+er and garbage underneath all that melng snow. AEer a parcularly long winter and an unprecedented amount of snow, li+er will make an unsightly appearance as never before. The Clean Foundaon (Clean) has a soluon and is inving all Nova Scoans (families, youth, individuals, businesses and schools) to take part in the Great Pick-MeUp, our long-standing li+er abatement program and one of the largest volunteer iniaves in the province to tackle this issue. With support from municipalies, Clean will provide teams with everything they need to run a successful li+er clean-up event. Groups can register by calling (902) 4203474 or by going online at nspickmeup.ca. Clean will send a free kit that includes supplies, informaon on how to coordinate your event and a data card to track results. Li+er is an eyesore, poses health risks, affects water quality, and is oEen mistaken as food for wildlife. Studies show people tend to li+er in areas where there is already garbage on the ground. That’s why Clean wants Nova Scoans to pick it up and promote clean communies across the province. Clean is encouraging teams to post photos of their teams in acon to social media using the hashtag #GladToCleanUp The huge amount of snow that is sll in our area could create problems when an appropriate me for highway cleanups finally arrives. We imagine that many groups may want to carry our their cleanup at the same me. This may not be a concern if your local TIR depot only has one or two groups associated with it. For depots that have several AAH groups, scheduling could become a problem, We ask that our groups have paence and show consideraon for other volunteers and TIR staff in this situaon. It may be helpful to give the depot lots of noce when you decide on the date of you r cleanup. Some depots have a limited number of safety vests, and may not be able to provide vests to another group for their cleanup unl the supplies from a pervious cleanup are returned. One possibility is to consider doing your cleanup on an evening through the week, instead of on the weekend when there is more demand for the supplies. (somemes an evening may be a be+er me for the volunteers as well!) Groups may also be able to arrange for the transfer of supplies themselves, if one group does a cleanup in the morning, and another group would like to do their cleanup in the aEernoon, or the next day. We are hoping that our volunteers can work together to make this a successful cleanup season, despite the colossal snowfall of the past winter! S89.6B L.--59 SC558 C)6-5<We are again holding our Spring Li+er Sweep Contest for 2015. To enter the contest, parcipate in the Spring clean up and photograph your most unusual lier found by your group ( Mail your completed Adopt-a-Highway permit from your Spring 2015 cleanup and a photograph of your unusual lier, to the AdoptA-Highway Office, 90 Research Drive, Bible Hill, NS B6L 2R2. You could also email your entry to aah@eastlink.ca. Your group could win a cash prize of $200, $100 or $50 for your picture. Winner to be announced in the Fall 2015 newsleer. DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: JULY 16, 2015 I;8)9-+6- I6D)9;+-.)6: -All volunteers are eligible to receive various Adopt-A-Highway promoonal items for carrying out their roadside cleanup! Groups can request these items when they send in their completed Li+er Cleanup Permit. We have refillable pocket hand sanizers, tape measures, bandage dispensers, pens, and window decals available. A recent item that we have added is a insulated lunch bag. Brand new this Spring is a magnec clip (pictured at leE) that is great for holding memos and important papers. S89.6B C35+678 P958+9+-.)6< Now that winter has come to an end, it’s me to start thinking about your upcoming spring cleanup. Here is a check list of items to help you prepare. • Discuss with your group the best day to • • • • • • perform the cleanup. Request an Adopt-A-Highway Program Cleanup permit at least one week before your cleanup from the local depot of the Department of Transportaon and Infrastructure Renewal (TIR). They will arrange to have safety vests, garbage bags, flagging tape and supplies ready for your group. On the day of the cleanup, review the safety guidelines with all members of your volunteer group. Make sure the contact person for your group has a copy of the permit with them during the cleanup. Take a picture of your unusual finds, and enter our Spring Li+er Sweep Contest Fill out the permit aEer your cleanup. Return the department vests and unused garbage bags, etc. Keep a copy of the permit for your records, give the Department of TIR depot a copy and send a copy to the Adopt-A-Highway office. This is very important! This informaon is essenal for our records, and is needed for your group to be included in our newsle+er. A>)8--A-H.B:C+F D+F I6 N)*+ S,)-.+ The Office of the Premier of N.S. has proclaimed that May 4th will again be Adopt-A-Highway in Nova Scoa. We are appreciave that the members of the Legislave Assembly connue to recognize our hard working volunteers with this special recognion! J).6 )79 E;+.3 3.<Postage is connually increasing, and if you would like to help reduce our costs, and reduce waste, sign up to receive our newsleer electronically, via email! Simply send an email stang your request, and your email address, to aah@eastlink.ca and you will be added to our electronic mailing list. Another opon we have added is to receive the newsle+er by regular mail, and to receive other correspondence, such as noces and V.I.S. informaon, by email. Please consider this easy opon to help with our expenses, and the environment! C:5,A F)79 <.B6<! This winter we have an incredible accumulaon of snow in many areas of the province. There is a good chance that the snow plows may wreaked havoc with your AAH recognion signs. They may have been knocked down, or damaged by the plows. Please have a look at your signs along your route this Spring. If they need a+enon, either with reinstallaon, or repair, please let our office know, and we will pass this along to your local depot. Important Dates! April 22, 2015 — Earth Day May ?— Great Pick-me-up Clean up Kick off May 4, 2015 - N.S. Adopt-A-Highway Day 1st Week in June - Environment / Tourism Week 3rd Week in October - Waste Reducon Week F+33 2014 .6 R5*.5C At mes the weather would cooperate last fall, and this allowed our volunteers to get out and improve the appearance of their communies. We had 43 groups take part, picking up 844 bags of garbage, and 59 bags of recyclables. We had over 557 volunteers take part, and they cleanup up 213 kilometres of highway and 5 interchange areas. We truly appreciate their me and effort they dedicate to cleaning up the li+er in their area. T)-+3 D)9 2014 The total for the year is over 66 tonnes of garbage and recyclables (4,453 bags) picked up off 822 kilometers of road ways and eleven exits, by over 2,100 volunteers. Well done & Thank You!! T)-+3< D)9 -:5 Y5+9 Group Cape Breton, Inverness, Richmond, Victoria Antigonish, Guysborough, Pictou Colchester, Cumberland, Hants East Halifax, HRM Annapolis, Kings Hants West, Lunenburg, Queens Digby Yarmouth GRAND TOTALS Region Km. Adopted Bags of Garbage Bags of Recyclables Volunteers Individual Hours Total Volunteer Hours Tonnes Of Litter 1 59.0 204 8 98 39.50 329.00 3.2 2 188.0 876 89 527 65.50 1334.50 14.5 3 75.7 643 15 191 55.50 531.00 9.9 4 152.0 1252 46 505 111.00 1370.50 19.5 5 107.5 383 11 286 51.75 674.50 5.9 6 191.0 564 79 395 93.75 976.75 9.6 7 49.0 255 28 99 20.25 220.50 4.2 11 Exits 822.2 4177 276 2101 437.25 5436.75 66.8 RRFB N)*+ S,)-.+ R58)9N.S. R5,F,35< C)6-5<From September to February, Grade Primary to 12 students across the province parcipate in various acvies from colouring contests to short films to promote parcipaon in waste reducon. More than $55,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships is available annually for students and schools. They had an abundance of terrific entries this year, and the winners in the different regions are listed on their website at : www.putwasteinitsplace.ca . Congratulaons to all of the winners! Nova Scoa’s Adopt-A-Highway Program is supported by: LITTERature is a semi-annual newsle+er published by the Nova Scoa Adopt-A-Highway Program. If you have missed a recent issue of our Adopt-A-Highway newsle+er, be sure to check out our website for a link to many of our previous issues, along with updated informaon regarding the program. www.novascoa.ca/agri/wi/projects/adopt.shtml If you have any quesons about the Adopt-A-Highway program or this newsle+er, please contact: NEW GROUPS We are pleased to Welcome these new groups to the Gina Bain, Program Coordinator Nova Scoa Adopt-A-Highway Program Adopt-A-Highway program: 90 Research Drive, Bible Hill, NS B6L 2R2 ∗ Rotary Club of Sackville & Area, Lower Sackville ∗ Musquodoboit Harbour Lions Club, Musquodoboit Telephone: (902) 843-9467 Fax: (902) 843-1030 harbour (re-joining) Email: aah@eastlink.ca This newsleer is printed on FSC paper. AAH CLEANUP REPORTS D+9-;)7-: P.BD)B< R7BJF D))-J+33 C37J The Dartmouth PigDogs RFC carried out their first cleanup of their adopted road in October 2014. the have adopted Burnside Drive in Dartmouth. It is great to have this busy thourghfare receive a cleanup from this community minded sports team. They had 15 volunteers take part, and collected 31 bags of trash including a stroller. The club thought the event was a lot of fun and are looking forward to their next cleanup! M5-5B:+6 L.)6< C37J The Meteghan District Lions Club had their clean up of Highway #1 in their community under less than ideal condions. The weather did not cooper but they braved rainy windy and cold condions and were successful in compleng their 6.5 km, cleanup. They had 8 volunteers take part and were happy to have 4 youth assisng them. They collected 25 bags of li+er. They were pleased to report that this was a reducon was compared to last year. 45 bags of li+er They are glad that it appears that the local cizens are taking more priced in keeping their main highway cleanup. P)9- W.33.+;< K A95+ L.)6< C37J The Port Williams & District Lions Club held their cleanup in Mid-October. Their route is on Highway #358 from Greenwich to the Canard River. They had thirteen parcipants including Lions, community volunteers and two students from Landmark East School in Wolfville. Eighteen bags were collected , including this sofa chair along with 1/2 bag of recyclables and . Pictured at leE are, leE to right. Lin Dave Seaboyer (in the chair) King Lion Kendall Hutchinson, Ken Pick, Stan Dodge, Deanna Smith, Lion Eldon Smith, Lion Patricia Hamm, Evan Fairn and Lion Brian Tupper. S-. M+9B+95-’< B+F L.)6< C37J The St. Margaret's Bay Lions Club held a successful highway cleanup on their secon of Highway #213 from Highway 103 to the St. Margaret’s Bay Road. Thanks to all the parcipants who made this day a great success with over 40 bags of garbage collected. Thanks also to Lion Jim Miller made arrangements and organized the project. Pictured at right are Reg Sollows, Jim Miller. Steve Belliveau and Harry Ward. Other parcipants were Margot Fraser, Warren Wya+ and Leonard Bugbee. B+:+’. G9)78 )D T979) The Baha’I group of Truro performed their cleanup of Exit 14A in Onslow, outside Truro. They were happy to resume their cleanup of the exit, as they had been finding it difficult to do their cleanup because of an aging membership. They were able to get enough volunteers this Fall, and accommodated their schedule. All were not able to come at the same me, so some came early and leE early, while another groups came later on in the cleanup. They picked up 16 bags of garbage and found a car windshield and the discarded lid off a freezer. They had eight volunteers help out, and completed the cleanup in 1 1/2 hours. G9556 T5+;– G7F<J)9)7B: A,+>5;F Guysborough academy had their annual highway clean up on Monday, November 10th, and was a great success! This annual cleanup includes the enre student body and staff at Chedabucto Educaon Centre/Guysborough Academy of 325 students and staff. Our 5 km stretch of highway through the village of Guysborough, our school grounds and addional side streets were cleaned. They collected 40bags of garbage and 10 bags of recyclables. The Green Team here at the school leads this process for the enre school. They also sent along of some pictures of their unusual finds that are posted on page ## of the newsle+er. The Green Team at Chedabucto Educaon Centre/Guysborough Academy (collecvely referred to as Chedabucto Place) sent along their thanks for the support that they receive from the AAH program. A66+8)3.< V+335F G5),+,:59< The Annapolis Valley Geocachers again did a cleanup of their interchange area at Exit #17E of Highway 101 near Kingston. . They got together in mid-October and picked up 13 bags of garbage and a small bag of recyclables. They had and had a good turnout for their event with 13 volunteers helping out. They found many unusual items this year during their cleanup including car parts, hair extensions, Rubbermaid containers. A bowl, fishing rod, and a container of wet ones. HILL N’ DALE 4-H CLUB CLUB In early November Hill n’ Dale 4-H Club finally got a dry Saturday to clean up their route on Highway #325 in Wileville. They had 20 young 4–Hers, leaders and parents ready to start with a cold 5 degree temperature and 50-60 km/hour winds. With a lot of rain previously, the condions were not great, however the persevered and collected 28 bags of garbage and 2 bags of recyclables. Everyone was pleased they did the job although some had cold feet and hands. Hot chocolate and food was welcome! Litterature Litterature Nova Scotia’s Adopt-A-Highway Program Fall 2015 UPDATES FROM OUR ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY GROUPS Annapolis Valley Geocachers The Annapolis Valley Geocachers were one of our earliest groups to complete their Spring Cleanup. Even though there was still snow in many of the ditches around the province, they arranged to do their cleanup of Exit #17E near Kingston to coincide with the World Geocaching Cache In - Trash Out Event. This was scheduled for the weekend of April 24th- 27th. Another geocaching group, the Atlantic Canada Geocaching Association, managed to complete their cleanup on Hwy #3 in Five Rivers / Timberlea that weekend as well. The Annapolis Valley Geocachers had 23 volunteers take part and picked up 11 bags of litter in less than an hour, making fast work of their cleanup. Lake Echo Lions Club The Lake Echo Lions Club was joined by the Lake Echo Watershed Association; the Lake Echo Boaters Association; the Lake Echo Lakers baseball group; the Porter's Lake Schooners baseball group, their coaches, and other community members; and the Mineville Community group to clean litter from highway ramps and a car park common to all of them. The Lake Echo Lions Club group collected 100 garbage bags and two recycling bags. The most common litter was coffee cups, pop cans and other fast food waste, but they also found tires, scrap metal, car parts, electronics and even a toilet bowl. The clean up included the highway through their community, several streets and side roads, the shoreline, beach and recreation area of Lake Echo. They also tidied up the roadside shoreline of a pond that is home to many species of wildlife, and is part of the Lake Echo Watershed system. They feel that keeping their communities clean is important. They would like to help people understand it is NOT OKAY to throw away garbage. The Nova Scotia Adopt-A-Highway Program “Put Litter in its Place!” Friends of Crescent Beach Green Bay & Area Society This group was lucky to pick the only sunny day in the week for their cleanup of Crescent Beach Road, and the beach area. Grade 5 & 6 classes came from Portipique school to help out, so it was fortunate that the weather was favourable. The students did a great job and picked up 17 bags of litter and one bag of recyclables during the cleanup. They were treated to juice and cookies after the cleanup. They also received AAH insulated lunch bags, which they loved! Mt. Uniacke Cleanup Party The Mt. Uniacke Cleanup Party had a wet day for their cleanup, receiving approximately 6mm of rain. Community members, including their Fire Department and RCSCC 356 Sea Cadets, worked to collect almost 900 kilograms of litter (almost 100 bags)! Their 12 kilometre route includes Highway #1 in the Mount Uniacke - Lakelands area. They had an unusual find during their event; a large bag of coins. This was a prize winner in our Litter Sweep contest (details on the last page of our newsletter). They are thankful for the opportunity to represent their community with this event, and improve the appearance of the local area. Enfield, Elmsdale & District Lions Club Enfield, Elmsdale and District Lions Club also had a wet day for their cleanup. They persevered and collected over 500 kilograms of litter from their route on the Old Enfield Road and Horne Settlement Road. After the cleanup, they were rewarded for their hard work and resilience with pizza provided by Papa K’s in Enfield and water and soft drinks donated by Sobeys in Elmsdale. They also received various promotional items from the AAH program. Gloves and garbage bags were provided by Rona in Elmsdale. A big "Thank you" to The Journey Church, Enfield Scouts and Guides and various family volunteers for their participation. Port Williams & District Lions Club The Port Williams and District Lions Club had assistance from community residents for their AAH cleanup on a sunny Saturday in mid-May. The results are encouraging, and they found significantly less garbage than in other years. After all the hard work, the participants enjoyed refreshments provided by the Lions Club. Wooden handles from broken hoes, brooms etc. can be given to local Lions, and they will be recycled into garbage pick-up sticks. Additional photos of the cleanup can be found on the Village web site photo gallery at www.portwilliams.com (go to “Community” and then “Village photo gallery”). Spring 2015 Cleanup Report A big thank you to all the groups and individuals who participated in the Spring 2015 cleanup, including this member of the Port Williams & District Lions pictured at right!! 250 Vimy Air Cadets, Tantallon—Lewis Lake 569 Colonel GN Henderson Air Cadet Squadron, Brookfield 719 Stora Air Cadet Squadron, Port Hawkesbury Alexander Family, Stanley Section Annapolis Royal Lions Club, Allan’s Creek Annapolis Valley Geocachers, Kingston Antigonish Kinsmen 378 (with Port Hawkesbury Antigonish Swim Club), Antigonish Lions Clubs & Cadets Atlantic Canada Geocaching Association, Five Rivers Timberlea Annapolis West Education Centre, Annapolis Bass River Heritage Society Bedford Lions Club Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation, Mahone Bay Bridgetown Lions Club & Army Cadets Brierly Brook Road Group, Antigonish Broad Cove Community Association Brookfield Community Assembly Clarence 4-H Club Coastal Cruisers, Bridgewater Coldbrook & District Lions Club and Leos Community of Lawrencetown Beach Dartmouth PigDogs RFC, Burnside Dartmouth Rotary Club Dillon Consulting, Halifax Earth Day Friends, Tatamagouche East Bay Area Community Council Enfield & Elmsdale District Lions Club Englishtown Community Hall Eric & Joyce Higgins, Higginsville Fables, Tatamagouche Fellowship Lodge #112(AF&AM), Bible Hill Forest Heights Community School O2 Students, Chester Grant Freeport Development Association (with Islands Track and Field) Friends of Crescent Beach / Green Bay & Area Society Friends of Route 245, North Grant Friends of Taylor Head Park, Spry Bay Gospel Light Baptist Church Youth Group, Harrietsfield Great Village & Area Community School and Friends of the Community Guysborough Waste Management, Monastery to Bolyston Harley Owners Group – Central Chapter, N.S., Elmsdale Lantz Hill n’ Dale 4-H Club, Newcombville HMCS Halifax, Halifax Stanfield International Airport Hopewell 4-H Club Hub Campers, Lanesville Islands WI (with Islands Track & Field) Tiverton Kingston Lions Club LRHS Key Club, Liverpool Ladies Auxiliary, Sluice Point Lake Echo Lions Club Laura Lee & Gil Johnson, South Brookfield Lawrencetown Lions Club Linden 4-H Club, Linden Corner to Shinimicas Lismore Community Hall Lower River Road Group, Cleveland MacPherson’s Mills Women’s Institute Maxxam Analytics, Bedford Medway River Salmon Association, Charleston Bridge to Greenfield Michelin Health & Safety Group, Granton Michelin North America, Waterville Middleton Lions Club Milford & District Lions Club & Air Cadets Millennium1 Solutions, Hebbville Mortgage Managers, Hammonds Plains Moschelle Community Circle Mt. Uniacke Clean-Up Party, Mt. Uniacke- Lakelands Musquodoboit Harbour Lions Club Nailed It Construction, Sheet Harbour (ongoing) New Germany & Area Lions Club North Shore Volunteer Fire Dept., Cribbons Point to Malignant Cove Northumberland Regional High School, Alma Nova Scotia Jeep Club, Upper Sackville Oakland Indian Point Residents Association Point Aconi Generating Station, Bras d’Or Port Williams & District Lions Club & WI & Community Porter’s Lake Cleanup Crew Remi Roy, Stewiacke Rhyno’s Ltd., Bridgewater River John Consolidated School & 4-H Club River John & Area Lions Club River Phillip Community Hall Rotary Club of Sackville and Area, Lower Sackville Rotary Club of Sydney - Sunrise Rotary Club of Truro Salt Springs 4-H Club Second Paradise Retreat, Second Peninsula Sobeys – Bridgewater, Dayspring Someone Cares Committee, St. Andrews Spa Springs Women’s Institute Springhill 2011 Lions Club St. Andrew’s 4-H Club St. James United Church, Antigonish St. John’s United Church Men’s Club, Wallace St. Margaret’s Bay Lions Club St. Paul's Church / Spryfield Scout Troop Stillwater Community Group Stop the Proposed N. Construction Quarry Near Miller Lake Group, Fall River Sunrise 4-H Club, Truemanville The Baha'i Community of West Hants, Windsor Forks The John Howard Society (2 routes - Dartmouth and Halifax) The Rascals, Portipique Tidy Highway 245, North Grant Toney River Community Centre (Continued on next page) Spring 2015 Cleanup Report (Continued) TOPS NS #2045 East Jeddore Truro Lions Club / 2nd Truro Scouts and Venturers, North River Unama’ki Voyageurs Métis Trail, Louisdale Valley Kemptown & District Fire Department, Valley West Branch United Church Western Kings 4-H Club, Somerset Weymouth Lions Branch Club White Point Beach Resort, Liverpool Wilson Family, Port Howe to Riverview Wolfville Lions Club, Wolfville-Grand Pré Yarmouth Area Community Fund, Grove Road - Overton Lake Echo Lions Club (pictured at right) had a good turnout for their cleanup this year. Message From Our Co-Chair Greetings. It is a pleasure for me to send a message to all volunteers whether it is as a committee member, volunteer of Adopt-A-Highway or an interested person. What an exciting year we had with Adopt-A-Highway whether it was at the Committee meetings where we listened to the many reports presented by the members in attendance or at the Volunteer Information Session where volunteers from throughout the province of Nova Scotia meet to discuss and share their many experiences. Volunteers are so very important and the volunteers related to the work of Adopt-A-Highway are equally important in helping make Nova Scotia's countryside beautiful and something for us to be so proud of. We are all so proud of the work by Gina Bain in the office and the way in which she does her job with dedication, professionalism and in such a pleasant manner. Lastly, and most importantly, thank you to all who climbed up and down the ditches to remove waste and thank you to those who not only work one or two weekends over the year but continue to be on the lookout for waste throughout the year. Your dedication is greatly appreciated. Ellen MacGillivary Simpson Co-Chairperson Adopt-A-Highway Spring Cleanup Totals !! Our groups have had another very productive Spring with more than 52 tonnes of litter and recyclables being picked up off our roadways, streets and interchanges. Our gratitude goes out to all of the 1,575 volunteers who took the time to join in on this monumental effort to improve the appearance of our beautiful province! We also heard from several groups that they had made plans for their cleanup, but had to cancel because of wet conditions or inclement weather. Hopefully things will work out for their next scheduled event. Counties Cape Breton, Inverness, Richmond, Victoria Antigonish, Guysborough, Pictou Colchester, Cumberland, Hants East Halifax, HRM Annapolis, Kings Hants West, Lunenburg, Queens Digby, Yarmouth GRAND TOTALS Region Kilometres Adopted Bags of Garbage Bags of Recyclables Volunteers Individual Hours Total Volunteer Hours TONNES OF LITTER 1 37.0 85 2 61 15.5 172.5 1.31 2 201.0 805 91 435 61.0 1223.5 13.44 3 126.0 863 25 268 69.0 857.0 13.32 4 111.5 870 27 370 90.0 1159.5 13.46 5 70.0 204 3 194 35.5 419.5 3.11 6 103.5 409 20 210 52.5 574.0 6.44 7 26.0 96 4 42 10.0 107.0 1.50 675.0 9 Exits 3332 172 1580 333.5 4513.0 52.56 Extra Extra, Read All About It - News From AAH! Looking for Volunteer Information Session Hosts We really enjoy holding our Volunteer Information Session in different areas of the province. Next Spring, it will be time to come back to the central portion of the province, as we plan to do this every three years. If you would like to host our V.I.S., send a proposal including a venue, caterer, cost estimates, and a possible tour site/ idea. We will decide on the location for our 2016 V.I.S. in late January. Annual Report / Brochure We have published an annual report for our program with a wrap up of our activities and highlights for the year. We also have an updated brochure available for anyone that would like to help spread the word about our program. If you would like either of these items, let us know and we can send them out. Oops! We missed reporting on one group that did their Spring Cleanup in 2014. The Baha’i Community of West Hants had 15 adults and youth take part in their event. They picked up 22 bags of garbage along their 3 kilometer route. Thanks to all involved for continuing with their traditional Spring cleanup. What Are the Effects of Litter? Litter can cause a whole range of problems for everyone in the community. Litter discarded along our road can even travel to our rivers and oceans, where it can cause harm to wildlife. Litter costs money. Removing litter from the environment costs Nova Scotia taxpayers thousands of dollars each year. Litter is a threat to public health. Litter attracts vermin and is a breeding ground for bacteria. Items such as broken glass and syringes can be a health hazard in public places. Litter can be a fire hazard. Accumulated litter and carelessly discarded cigarette butts are potential fire hazards. Litter looks bad. Litter negatively affects the image of places, especially tourist locations. Litter attracts litter. Litter sends out a message that people do not care for the environment and that it is acceptable to litter. Litter can harm or kill wildlife. Plastic litter can choke or suffocate birds and marine life. Carelessly discarded containers can trap small mammals. Animals can be attracted to roadsides by litter as a possible food source, and could be hit by a car. Wildlife near the road can also create a hazard for passing motorists, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Getting the Word Out… One of our AAH groups, the Port Williams & Area Lions Club & WI, had an article about their cleanup in the Kings County Advertiser. Pictures of the event can be viewed on the Port Williams town website. A letter from AAH Program Coordinator Gina Bain was printed in the ‘Feedback” section of Saltscapes magazine. The letter was written to express thanks for the “Fouling the Nest” article concerning litter that was featured in their January/February issue. An information booth was placed at the N.S. provincial Exhibition in Truro during the week of August 18th 22nd. Brochures and applications were available to the public who were interested in learning more about our program. Many groups have placed notices on their website and Facebook pages about their cleanups This is a great way to let others know about various cleanup events. Some of the litter picked up by the Lake Echo Lions Club. New Contact Information We now have a new item in our mailing address. We are required to use our Suite number on the address for our letter mail. The revised address is: Suite 207, 90 Research Drive, Bible Hill, NS B6L 2R2 Notices for our AAH Groups Promotional Items All volunteers are eligible to receive various Adopt-AHighway promotional items for carrying out their roadside cleanup! Groups can request these items when they send in their completed Litter Cleanup Permit. We have refillable pocket hand sanitizers, tape measures, bandage dispensers, and pens. New items that have been added recently include a thermal lunch bag and magnetic clip. Electronic Newsletter If you would like to help reduce the use of paper, and reduce postage costs, please sign up to receive our newsletter electronically, via email! Simply send an email stating your request, and your email address, to aah@eastlink.ca and you will be added to our electronic mailing list. Another option we have added is to receive the newsletter by regular mail, and to receive other correspondence, such as notices and Volunteer Information Session information, by email. Please Send in your Permit To guarantee your group is listed in the latest edition of our newsletter, please ensure a copy of your permit is forwarded to the Adopt-A-Highway office. This permit gives us important information such as the number of hours spent on the cleanups, amount of garbage collected, etc. If your group is missing from this cleanup list, please notify our office, and you will be included in the next newsletter. We Like to Hear from You! We love to have pictures of your group doing your Spring & Fall Cleanups. Snap some photos of your group and send them to the AAH office (as the Lake Echo Lions Club have done) when you submit your cleanup permit. They may be included in the upcoming editions of LITTERature TERature! You could also include “before and after” shots of your highway or interchange area. Send in your suggestions and ideas and we may pass them along in a future newsletter. Fall Cleanup Preparations Now that summer is coming to an end, it’s time to start thinking about your upcoming Fall cleanup. Here is a check list of items to help you prepare. Discuss with your group the best day to perform the cleanup. Request an Adopt-A-Highway Program Cleanup permit at least one week before your cleanup from the local TIR depot (or HRM office). They will arrange to have the supplies ready for your group. On the day of the cleanup, review the safety guidelines with all members of your volunteer group. Fill out the information on the Litter Cleanup Permit after your cleanup. Keep a copy of the permit for your records, give the Department of TIR depot a copy and send a copy to the Adopt-A-Highway office. Return the safety vests and unused garbage bags, etc. in the next day or two. This is important as there may be another group that needs the supplies for their scheduled cleanup. We have had reports that a group cannot carry out their cleanup because the supplies have not been returned in a timely manner. Please have consideration for other volunteers and their plans, and return the items to the depot as soon as you can. TIR Depot Staff Notice The Dept. of TIR is our most important partner, and we have received many complimentary reports on how great the TIR staff are when working with our AAH Groups. Please let us know if your dealings with the local depot staff, or HRM office, have been outstanding during your cleanups. We may mention them in a future edition of our newsletter. Updates from our Program Partners Clean Foundation RRFB Nova Scotia Report This spring and summer was a busy one with the Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up. Over 16,000 people have participated in over 300 events since April and nearly 9,000 bags of garbage and over 1,000 bags of recycling were collected by teams. PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Congratulations to all seven winners in the ‘Glad to Cleanup’ photo contest held earlier this summer. Region 1 – The Downtown Sydney Trash Busters Region 2 – Paqnkek First Nations Region 3 - Gladys O and the Glad Bag Handlers (pictured below) Region 4 - Mount Uniacke Clean-up Party Region 5 - Waterville Baptist Church Youth Group Region 6 - JC Wickwire Academy Green Team Region 7 - Yarmouth Life Skills All seven groups did a great job engaging with their communities and we are happy to say that every winning team plans to put the prize money towards local community projects. These projects range from operating funds for local organizations to new environmental projects in their community. We want to thank all the individuals, families, school groups and workplaces who participated in the contest as well as the Great NS Pick-Me-Up! Your hard work, stewardship and passion has helped spread the word on litter issues and contributed to a healthier and cleaner province! Entry forms soon will be distributed to schools throughout the province for the NS Recycles Contest. $55,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships is available for students and school in various categories. The Mobius Awards will be presented in midOctober for Excellence in Waste Reduction. This is a great time to recognize individuals, groups and businesses around the province that are doing an outstanding job with reducing the amount of material that is sent to our landfills. Information is available on their website at putwasteinitsplace.ca. For updates and news from RRFB Nova Scotia, check out their latest newsletter, The ReCap, which is also on their website. They have extensive information about recycling, reducing, reusing, composting and funding programs for community groups as well. WHAT HAVE WE FOUND? To date, the most common litter items found by groups participating in the Great N.S. Pick-Me-Up this year have been disposable coffee cups, plastic bags, drink bottles and cigarette butts. To prevent these items from entering the environment, we suggest switching to reusable coffee mugs, keeping litter bags in your vehicles and encouraging your friends and family to do the same. Also, start considering what you buy before purchasing, ensuring the item is recyclable and determining if there are alternate options with less packaging. Lions Clubs of Nova Scotia As one of our founding members, we are appreciative of the great participation from the Lions Clubs in our program (such as the Weymouth Lions Branch Club, pictured here). Twenty Lions Clubs in N.S. carried out a roadside cleanup this Spring. This accounts for almost 20% of our activity this season. We appreciate this major contribution to our program from this service group. The clubs are busy with many beneficial projects across the province, and around the world! Dept. of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal As most people around the province will appreciate, The Dept. of TIR had a very trying winter. With the colossal amount of snow that we received, the staff and equipment had to work longer and harder than most winters. The snow lasted long into Spring, and therefore the Dept. went right from plowing snow, into repairing roads and potholes. This left very little transition time from one season to another. Because of this, the department was not able to carry out Spring litter cleanups as they have in other years. Also, because of the large amount of snow, there was quite a bit of sign damage. If your AAH recognition sign was damaged or knocked down this past winter, please let the office know, and we will contact your local depot for replacements or repair. We send a big Thank You to the TIR staff who worked so diligently over the winter to clear the snow from the roads, sometimes barely having time to clear the snow from one storm before another one hit. Updates … Continued Nova Scotia Environment Nova Scotia Environment has had a busy year, and is considering changes with regards to solid waste regulations. They had previously released a document called ”Revising Our Path Forward: A public discussion paper about solid waste regulations in N.S.” They asked for feed back to proposed changes, and they compiled the comments into “What we Heard”. Both of these documents contain many worthwhile ideas, and it will help to create the path they will take in the future to best serve Nova Scotians and their environmental needs. These documents can be found on their website at www.novascotia.ca/nse/waste/consultation.asp. Women’s Institutes of N.S. The Women’s Institutes of N.S. continue to be active in our program with five participating branches. Some of the branches are partnering with, or sponsoring, youth groups to help out with the cleanups because of an aging membership. We are glad that they continue to support AAH, along with their many local, national and international projects. Unusual Finds You never know what you might find in the ditch, and our groups found some unusual items on their cleanups this Spring. They include a bag of six cooked lobsters, washing machine front (Annapolis Valley Geocachers, above), moose whistle, $5 bill, juicer, toaster, roasting pan, animal jaw (Rhyno’s Ltd., below left) back pack, beach ball, motorcycle helmet, pill cutter, gutter shark (H.O.G. Central Chapter N.S., below right) tub surround, vinyl siding, plow shoe from snow plow, bag of StyrofoamTm, laundry basket, toy pick-up truck, $20, chairs, rooster mug, kids fireman's helmet, microwave oven, hockey pads, hair dryer, portable organ, patio cushion, wig, keyboard, bag of coins, exercise bicycle, and a working air conditioner. Halifax Regional Municipality We have 18 groups active in HRM, and this Spring over 2.5 tonnes of litter was picked up within their boundaries. Over 100 volunteers have picked up litter on the streets and roads in this area so far this year. Our volunteers work closely with the HRM Public Works office and we thank Tina Boyd and other staff for assisting with garbage pickup and supplies for the AAH groups. NEW GROUPS We are pleased to welcome Milleium1 Solutions in the Bridgewater area (pictured at right) to the AAH program. They have adopted Highway #3 in the Hebbville. We are thrilled that the following groups have recently joined the AAH program as well: Oakland Indian Point Residents Assoc., Mahone Bay Brookfield Community Assembly Valley Kemptown & District Fire Brigade, Exit #17, Highway #102,Valley The Rascals, Portipique area Unama’ki Voyageurs Métis Trail, Louisdale The Co-Operators-Elmsdale Office, Enfield-Grand Lake Enfield Rugby football Club, Elmsdale/Belnan Fire Stop Enterprises, Tatamagouche The Grove of Nova Scotia Druids, Halifax Cape Breton Paramedics, Sydney River Nova Scotia’s Adopt-A-Highway Program is funded by: LITTERature is a semi-annual newsletter published by the Nova Scotia Adopt-A-Highway Program. If you have missed a recent issue of our Adopt-A-Highway newsletter, check out our website for a link to many of our previous issues, along with updated information regarding the program www.novascotia.ca/agri/wins/adopt/. If you have any questions about the Adopt-A-Highway program or this newsletter, please contact: Gina Bain, Program Coordinator Nova Scotia Adopt-A-Highway Program Suite 207, 90 Research Drive, Bible Hill, NS B6L 2R2 Telephone: (902) 843-9467 Fax: (902) 843-1030 Email: aah@eastlink.ca This newsletter is printed on FSC paper. This year, Salt Spring 4-H Club changed their route to a nearby section of Hwy # 4. They had a good turnout with 28 volunteers picking up 35 bags of trash. They found many unusual items during their cleanup St. Andrews 4-H Club held their annual community cleanup , including a section of Highway #316, in early May. They collected 37 bags of garbage and 5 bags of recyclables during their 2 1/2 hour event. Milford & Area Lions Club & 652 R.C.A.C.S. are seen with some of the items found during their cleanup of Highway #2 in Milford. Isabelle and Sophie Lamoureux of 250 Vimy Air Cadets in the Tantallon area pose with the recognition sign for their group. HMCS Halifax completed their annual cleanup of Bell Blvd., near the Stanfield Halifax International Airport. They had better weather this year for their cleanup of this busy thoroughfare. Linden 4-H club recently rejoined our program, after taking a break because their members were too young to carry out the roadside cleanup. Their members are older now, and they had a great turnout for the cleanup. Approximately 15 people helped out, and they ended up with about 15 bags of garbage. The most unusual item they came across was a cooler full of ants. Their route is Highway #6 from Linden Corner to Shinimicas. Millenium1 Solutions Millenium1 Solutions is a brand new group that has adopted Highway #3 in the Hebbville area, near Bridgewater. They spent five hours on their cleanup and picked up 45 bags of garbage. This group was thrilled to have participated and support their community in this way. They are looking forward to the fall when they get to do it all again. Harley Owner’s Group - Central Chapter - N.S. During their cleanup of Highway #2 in the Lantz area, the H.O.G. collected many unusual items, including the motorcycle helmet that they entered in our Litter Sweep Contest. They collected 54 bags of garbage, which filled the dumpster at the Milford TIR depot. This group had some lunch bags to give to the volunteers, and they were a big hit. Extra bags were handed out to some young people in the area to help spread the word about our program. Spring Litter Sweep Winners First Place ($200): West Branch United Church This young member of the cleanup group from West Branch United Church decided to have fun with their unusual find. After discovering the top of a discarded electronic organ, she pretended to play the abandoned instrument. The judges of our contest thought this was the most unusual item submitted this year, and awarded it first place in our contest. Second Place ($100): Mt. Uniacke Clean-Up Party The Mt. Uniacke Clean-up Party had a great turnout for their community event despite very wet conditions (see write-up on page 7). They had help from their Fire Department and RCSCC 356 Sea Cadets. One of the teams found a fairly large bag of coins!! Our judges wondered how a bag of money, which seemed like it could add up to a fair amount of change, could end up in the ditch. This group not only got the proceeds from their find, but they also will receive $100 for their second place prize. Congratulations! Third Place ($50): H.O.G.- Central Chapter, N.S. It seemed very appropriate that the Harley Owner’s Group would find a discarded helmet during their cleanup of Highway #2 in the Lantz area. They found other unusual items as well, but a helmet is not often discovered by AAH groups. We hope they enjoy their $50 third prize. Thank you to everyone for participating in our contest, and congratulations to our winners!