More than 2,500 volunteers clean up Calgary parks and pathways

More than 2,500 volunteers worked together to pick up trash from Calgary's parks, river banks and pathways Sunday morning, as part of the city's 51st annual Pathway and River Cleanup event.

The city says the cleanup reminds people of the importance of disposing of trash properly.

"The Pathway andRiverCleanup is an important spring event. It brings thousands of people together to care for the environment, removing litter to clean our green spaces and water," said Calgary Parks volunteer supervisor Kirsten Pilger in a release.

"My hope is that we collect less waste every year as more people work to keep Calgary clean year-round."

The litter found along the nearly 200 kilometres of pathways and river banks is placed into garbage bags, which are later picked up by city staff.

Last year, volunteers found everything from bikes, to a small statue, to mattresses and clothes.

The cleanup ran from 9 a.m. until noon.

Calgary provides free litter cleanup kits for those that want to host their own neighbourhood trash pickups.

Each kit has gloves, garbage bags and hand sanitizer for 10 people. The city has a list of locations where the kits can be picked up on its website.

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