Garbage was picked up along the Tachie Highway by the Indigenous communities of Tachie and Binche on Sunday, May 2.
Organizer Joshua Hallman who is also the president of Binche Keyoh Bu Society said it was a good day for a cleanup, which has never been done before.
Between 20 to 30 volunteers including an elder put on gloves and high-visibility vests donated by KDL Logging to remove a variety of debris with pick-up-sticks supplied by YRB Road & Bridge.
“They did get 30 to 40 percent of the highway completed,” Hallman said, noting that is about 45 kilometres.
“There is still a lot more to do, but this is more of a seed planting to have people participate in keeping this highway clean because it represents our communities.”
While many have talked about having a safer and cleaner environment, Hallman said all too often, there has been no action.
He said the cleanup was to put some action behind their words.
By around 6 p.m. the group had removed all kinds of garbage items to either be recycled or landfilled including pieces of plastic, beverage cans and bottles, tires and even a fridge.
“Our main goal was not to try to attract volunteers through prizes or anything like that,” Hallman said.
“Our goal was to see who had the heart and willingness to come out and do the cleaning of the highway and take that extra time out of their schedule to volunteer.”
The day concluded with a barbecue provided by the society.
Binche Whut’en First Nation Chief Tracy Anatole said they were very proud of everyone making the communities beautiful, with Tl’azt’en Chief Bev John commenting the day was a great way to spend some socially distanced time together outside.
Hallman said they hope to return to finish cleaning up the rest of the highway with even more volunteers stepping up and making it a yearly event.
“It’s not only Tachie Highway that needs to be cleaned,” he said. “We all have a responsibility to keep them clean.”
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