Summerside teams with P.E.I. Women's Institute for annual roadside cleanup

For 50 years the P.E.I. Women's Institute has organized a roadside cleanup.

Now, Summerside is officially joining in on the cleanup this year.

Liz Sprangler, a board member with the institute, has been involved with the cleanup since she moved to the Island in 1988.

Sprangler said a major reason the cleanup happens in the spring is because trash accumulates and hides underneath the snow. "It melts and leaves a big pile of ugly looking stuff."

She said with the city officially joining the project should solve some confusion.

"They have had their own cleanup before. Now, they have the advantage of our public relations and our good will."

In the past, many residents of Summerside didn't understand they weren't really part of the cleanup and would pick up the yellow bags from the women's institute, fill them with trash and leave them by the roadside. Then they would wonder why they weren't being picked up, Sprangler said.

"We'd get calls about it and Summerside would get calls about it and it was sort or no one's responsibility for a while."

The bags did get picked up eventually, but Sprangler said pickup shouldn't be an issue this year with the city on board.

More than 40,000 kilograms of waste collected

In 2016, more than 40,000 kilograms of waste were collected.

Much what is picked up is single-use plastic, Sprangler said.

The official cleanup day is May 11, but people are free to start anytime. Pickup of this year's bags starts on the May 13.

Bags can be obtained at Access P.E.I. locations,  Summerside city hall the Stratford town hall and various Island waste management facilities.

"If you don't have a bag, or you run out of bags then you can use your clear waste disposal bag as an alternative. No blue bags because that is the recycling colour," Sprangler said.

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