Volunteers turned out in force for the 2023 Quinte Trash Bash, despite forecasts of rainy downpours.
The event, held on Saturday, saw volunteers picking up trash around the participating municipalities of Belleville, Quinte West, the Township of Tyendinaga and Prince Edward County.
Belleville Councillor Chris Malette, chair of the municipal Green Task Force, said that for Belleville the event has been a big success and that volunteers were able to get a lot of garbage off of city streets.
“It’s volume and eyeball. We saw the dumpsters and our staff and volunteers who’ve been doing this for a number of years, now they look at the dumpster volumes and when you’ve got a full size industrial dumpster that’s got, you know, two thirds full, that’s an awful lot of trash off the streets,” said Malette.
One group was so effective they couldn’t carry all they cleaned up.
“We even had a group that went out and cleaned up after an abandoned homeless encampment area out in Ward 2 I believe. There’s enough gathered up and cleaned up from that, that we actually have to have works staff come in Monday or Tuesday with, you know, some equipment to haul that all away with,” said Malette
The trash collected is still being weighed but the final total is expected to be higher than the previous sum collected in 2022.
