Pick Up Litter to Celebrate Earth Day

Picking up litter and making an effort to waste less are great ways for Nova Scotians to celebrate Earth Day today, April 22, and to keep the province clean every day.

"I encourage Nova Scotians to make it Earth Day every day," said Environment and Labour Minister Kerry Morash. "It's easy to organize a community litter cleanup, especially with help from the Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up program that is run all year long by the Clean Nova Scotia Foundation."

Mr. Morash presented a trophy made of trash to high school students at the Shambhala School today. The classes registered with Clean Nova Scotia and picked up litter in their school community. The class that collected the most litter won the trophy.

Elementary students at the school aimed to have "litter-less lunches" this week by using reusable containers when possible. They weighed packaging waste produced from their lunches each day. Mr. Morash presented a plant to the class with the least waste.

"The students and staff at this school recognize the importance of keeping communities litter free," said Mr. Morash. "They provide an excellent example for all Nova Scotians to reduce our wasteful daily activities for the benefit of our citizens, our visitors and our wildlife."

Nova Scotians can register with Clean Nova Scotia to organize a Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up event. Each group will receive a free cleanup kit including garbage bags, blue bags, an information booklet, posters and a data card to record what has been collected.

To register, see the Clean Nova Scotia website at www.clean.ns.ca or call 424-4252.