The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t enough to keep two local families from doing their annual neighbourhood spring cleaning.
Every year for the past 10 years, the Gysbers have teamed up with their neighbours, the Tunstalls, to clear the garbage from ditches in their Wainman Line neighbourhood.
“We like to try and keep the neighbourhood clean. We do this every year - once in the spring and once in the fall,” Tyler Gysbers said.
This year's spring cleaning presented a new challenge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is something both families are taking seriously.
“We are keeping our distance away from other people. We had already come into contact with our neighbours, so we are just treating them like family members,” Gysbers explained.
After weeks of self-isolating and physical distancing, the fresh air was welcome to everyone, he said.
“We were kind of getting exhausted of staying inside so we figured nobody else is going to be out there, it should be OK for us to go out and clean the ditch,” Gysbers said.
The neighbourhood families used an ATV with a trailer hooked on the back, carrying garbage cans and recycling bins. Gysbers says it’s something anyone could do.
“You can do it with a bike, you could just walk with a garbage can behind you or even a bucket,” he said.
“If everyone could do it, we would have a much cleaner city.”
