The North Bay Clean, Green, and Beautiful movement is striving to bring beauty to the waterfront and the stewardship culture of the Heritage Gardeners to the rest of the city.
“Our vision statement for North Bay is a clean, green, beautiful, engaged and inclusive community. Together we create beauty in public, private and unexpected places,” explained spokesperson Hariett Madigan.
The committee would like to see a litter free city by the fall of 2019.
“We want to foster stewardship of our land, water, and community with a focus on raising civic pride and enhancing the beauty of our city. Beautification starts with being a litter-free city, and that is our main focus for 2019 along with community stewardship.”
The committee is encouraging residents and businesses to clean littered areas in their neighbourhood, or workplace.
“A true indicator of the strength, health, beauty, and prosperity of any city, is the active participation of the individuals who work, play and live there,” said Madigan.
The North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce is fully on-board, agreeing that first impressions are important when it comes to growing the city.
“If people are coming here visiting, it could be because there is a possibility they might be transferred here or want to move here or set up a business here. The more we can engage our community to make it clean and green and beautiful, the better it is as a business community and a community as a whole. It is really about the engagement of our community and that includes businesses that are members of ours at the Chamber, and those that are non-members,” said CEO Peter Chirico.
“We’re asking the business community to take care of their properties, make sure that they’re litter free and free of obnoxious graffiti, and free of weeds. It is a really simple task. It is not going to take very much time out of their day. If you have a clean, beautiful looking place to do business, people are attracted to it.”
The priority this year is to tackle those foundational pieces and build for the future.
“We're inviting our whole community to join us. Beautify your property, adopt a city street, a curb, a bus stop or a trail. Gather your co-workers, your neighbours your family and friends to help you,” encouraged Madigan.
Anybody can go out and clean up an area at any time, but people can also register their project online to inspire others.
“You can register online and create a project on our website. Write a description, post a picture and we have a map that we’ll pin the location you’re looking after. Invite others to join your project, and review safety notes on the website," said Madigan.
“People are naming their teams now. They’re bringing their kids with them and teaching them what it means to have a litter-free community and how it can benefit them.”
The litter bags will be picked up on regular garbage days. A list of locations where bags are available is on the website.
“We have two kinds of bags, one is for recyclable items, it is a clear bag. And one is a yellow bag for garbage. This will not be included in their weekly bag limits,” said Madigan.
The public is invited to a waterfront cleanup this Saturday, May 11, from 9 to 11 a.m.
Madigan promises that this is the beginning of a long-term commitment to become the most beautiful city in northern Ontario.
“We hope everyone will be part of this story of positive transformation. We believe our city can be even better by learning to co-exist with our natural and cultivated surroundings and by stewarding it together.”
