Community urged to help clean up Kamloops beaches April 21

KAMLOOPS – The City of Kamloops is enlisting the community to clean up the riverbanks this spring.

During Tuesday’s (Mar. 12) council meeting, city staff presented Clean the Beach Day, a large-scale community event planned for April 21.

“There’s a lot of beach lying around Kamloops, and currently, the city doesn’t have an initiative where we go out and conduct a beach-cleaning day. It’ll be really beneficial for the community’s ability to enjoy the beaches around Kamloops,” said Ty Helgason, the city’s social and community development supervisor.

“It’s beneficial to the climate and environment, as it will be preventing some waste from going into the rivers. And it’s also just a really good opportunity to bring the community together.”

City staff opted for this sort of event rather than one akin to adopting a road due to potential safety concerns for residents and wildlife.

According to Helgason, the initiative will start at Riverside Park with a kickoff event where participants will get clean-up instructions and designated maps.

Helgason says events planning staff are looking to make the day about more than just picking up garbage to engage more community members but he isn’t worried about turnout numbers.

“I think in my initial conversations about this, pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to has been really excited about it,” he said. “We’re engaging a lot of different community groups such as the Adopt a Road and Adopt a Trail programs. Our business associations, our neighbourhood associations and as well, I’ve had a few folks reaching out with their support and enthusiasm already.”