Revival

About 200 folks fanned out across the County on Saturday to pick up other people’s trash. Under blue skies and embraced by warmer-than-usual springtime temperatures, an army of volunteers mustered to prowl the ditches of the countryside roadways and lanes. They were hunting for coffee cups, paper bags, pop cans and the like thoughtlessly discarded out of car windows by folks who should know better. Along with the standard fare of burger wrappers, the volunteer trash collectors came across mattresses, quantities of soiled diapers, and an aquarium. Some folks, it seems, continue to think the County’s sideroads exist for their disposal purposes. We shall leave this peculiar pathology to others to decipher.

More interesting is the streak of stubborn pride that propels our neighbours to don work gloves and, armed with a pack of garbage bags, embark on a trek through soggy ditches, extracting fast food packaging from matted weeds and grass.

It is a spirit that has existed here for a long time. It was smothered for a time by previous municipal leadership, convinced the liability exposure of volunteers in municipal ditches outweighed the benefit. It is hard, however, to put a permanent lid on a community that sees sideroads, laneways and paths as their own—as their home.

The County’s original Trash Bash was the inspiration of Jack Christie. He, alongside former MP Lyle Vanclief and wife Sharon, Keith Taylor, Ian Balsillie and not-yet-mayor Leo Finnegan, patrolled about two kilometres of roadside in 1992. Together they formed the Prince Edward Round Table on the Environment and Economy and challenged the broader community to join them in this endeavour. Finnegan, along with Taylor, Judy Paulhus and others, nurtured the April Trash Bash into a very big thing.

By 2005, 900 volunteers were coming out each spring to scour more than 600 kilometres of County roads. In 2007, Finnegan, who was by then mayor, reported, “It has become a fun day; there has been competition among schools; service clubs and church groups have become involved and many other clubs.”

Indeed, councillors that year set a challenge to gather pop cans—amassing more than 28,000 by the end of the day. (Alcan Aluminum contributed funds to the local Habitat for Humanity program based on cans collected and recycled.) The County’s waste contractor provided trucks and staff at no cost to the municipality. Isaiah Tubbs provided a barbecue lunch. The County’s Trash Bash became a model for other communities seeking to engage their community in this effort.

Alas, it didn’t last. By the early part of the last decade Shire Hall, like many local governments, became consumed by and wary of risk. Insurance costs were rising. Residents and businesses were more litigious. Municipal coffers offered a soft target.

In 2015, the municipality invited its insurer’s risk management specialist to explain to Council how they should respond. The underwriter cautioned that volunteers picking up roadside trash was an uninsurable risk. That if the municipality was promoting Trash Bash, volunteers must be trained, must wear certified safety boots, a colourful vest and be guarded by a flag crew and sign vehicle cautioning drivers to avoid hitting the roadside cleaners. That was that—no more Trash Bash.

Plenty of other volunteer efforts were caught up in this era of municipal fearfulness. A chill descended upon an array of community activities. Roles volunteers had served for decades were now forbidden. Unwelcome. A generation of folks put down their tools and went home.

A couple of years later, however, a delegation from Quinte Trash Bash came to Shire Hall to share the benefit of community engagement in roadside tidying. It was all a bit embarrassing. The County had been a leader in bashing trash. Hundreds of folks participated each year. Then it came to a sudden stop. By a municipality made inert by liability risk.

Quinte Trash Bash, meanwhile, was managing their liability exposure by preparing a pamphlet and distributing it to each volunteer. It provided instructions regarding footwear and gloves as well as other safety advice.

Council conceded it had made a mistake and revived the Trash Bash—in coordination with Quinte Trash Bash. The event has struggled, however, to regain the participation and enthusiasm of those early days.

That may be changing. More of a grassroots initiative, this year’s Trash Bash was sponsored and promoted by Home Hardware store owners in Wellington and Picton. It was driven by a couple of folks—John Caliendo and Andrew Schwab. Using print and social media, they spread the word. Evan Nash served as point person.

Significantly, this ragtag band received aid and support from Shire Hall in the form of a couple of dumpster bins and disposal of the collected waste. The County’s Chief Administrative Officer, Marcia Wallace, personally coordinated the assistance—a signal that a tectonic shift is underway at Shire Hall.

Saturday’s success will surely inspire broader participation in future Trash Bash events. Perhaps more volunteering. Many folks are keenly interested in putting their energy, means and abilities to work to make their community better. It is a vast resource that we have only begun to tap.

Harnessing this energy, wisdom, and enthusiasm remains a work in progress. The signal, however, is positive.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca