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Pilot project aims to clean up Prince Albert’s image

Apr 15, 2015 | 12:01 PM

Lately, the area outside Prince Albert has been looking more like a giant yard sale than a welcome mat for visitors.

People have been illegally dumping mattresses, furniture, even roof shingles in the ditches.

A group comprised of 15 local agencies is hoping to change peoples’ attitudes through education and clean-up events. 

“Anybody in the city would notice that there’s litter on the streets on a regular basis, but outside the city in the rural areas, it’s maybe a little bit better hidden and we don’t see the different materials that are being dumped,” said Charlene Tebbutt, with the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce.

Tebbutt said illegal dumping contributes to environmental problems and just an overall messy image.

“There’s a lot of different perspectives but it all comes back to it being important for the image of Prince Albert,” said Tebbutt. “We have P.A. Tourism involved in this project; they have an interest from a tourism perspective. The RMs are involved (RM of Prince Albert, RM of Buckland); they have an interest from their standpoint in terms of their ratepayers.”

One of the group’s first projects will coincide with Earth Day events on April 25. 

There will be a number of presentations and activities for kids at John M. Cuelenaere library. 

“A big part of this group is education and promoting different ways to recycle, where you can recycle, the location and also promoting the idea that it’s just as easy to recycle,” said Tebbutt.

Following the presentations at the library, there will be a group clean-up event at 4 p.m.  The Prince Albert Downtown Improvement District Association has donated bags and gloves for the event.

Tebbutt said during pitch-in week in May, the group is also looking to hold several clean-up events in the rural areas.

Another idea the group is pitching is a partnership between local businesses and community groups looking for fundraising dollars.

“A business would donate to a community group, say 4-H for example, and then they’d go out clean up a certain area. We would match those two together so we can get some fundraising dollars for these community groups and also get these areas cleaned up,” said Tebbutt.

The working group is also working on ways to increase public reporting involving incidents of illegal dumping and littering.

In rural areas, illegal dumping can be reported through the ministry of environment’s TIP line at 1-800-667-7561 or online.  saskatchewan.ca/conservation

“I think every local community group or every citizen would have a stake in this and would definitely benefit from cleaning up these areas,” said Tebbutt.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell