Nearly 20,000 kg of garbage was estimated to have been picked up around Red Deer during this spring’s Green Deer campaign.

Some 4,243 local volunteers registered to scoop litter, including cigarette butts, during the April 16 to June 17 campaign. “If we were to assume that everyone who registered for the program picked up at least one bag of garbage, that would be equivalent to 42,430 pounds (19,093 kgs),” said Suzanne Jubb. community and program facilitator for the City of Red Deer.

“I can’t thank Red Deerians enough for taking such pride in their community,” she added. “We need more people to develop a ‘leave it better than you found it’ attitude as a way of life.”

All registrants were entered for a chance to win prizes. Christina Lewin won a barbecue, and students at Westpark Middle School (Mrs. Henley’s class) and Mountview Elementary School (Miss Hollingshead’s class) won bus passes to the Recreation Centre for a one-hour swim.

Since there’s always some garbage left to pick up, Jubb is pleased that 22 groups have registered for the Adopt a Park program, vounteering to be stewards for a year. For more information, please call 403-342-8234.

There’s also a chance to register for the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up on Sunday, Sept. 9. For more information, please visit www.reddeer.ca/greendeer.