Volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got to work helping clean up Jessie Lake.
They joined the Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA) for their annual Jessie Lake Shoreline Cleanup and Weed Pull on Wednesday, July 10.
“We do this in preparation of a tree planting that we have planned later in the summer,” noted Arianne Crook, executive director for LICA. “We’re planting some seedlings along the shoreline, which is the riparian area, to hopefully in the long-run improve the quality of water at Jessie Lake.”
Starting at the Slawuta Pond parking lot, groups set out along the shoreline to pick up garbage and pull weeds.
While the vegetation was comparable to previous years, there was a lot of litter found in the parking lot.
Lisa Ratte, LICA’s education and outreach coordinator, said, “There was so much garbage in that area, and it was very unfortunate to see. People park there and then dump their garbage out the window instead of using the many garbage bins that are all around.”
Clearing weeds gives the trees LICA hopes to plant later this summer a better chance at survival.
“Their deep root structure will help stabilize the shoreline, and filter any pollutants that may be running off,” explained Ratte. “The plants we pulled out have really shallow roots, so they don’t absorb any sort of pollutants that are running through the area as easily as the deep rooted plants.”
White Cockle and the Canada Thistle were the most common problem weeds they came across.
Roughly 30 volunteers were out in support of the event this year. Crook and Ratte were excited to see a number of younger volunteers pulled on some gloves.
“It’s really the key to our future,” Crook added. “We feel inspiring our youth to be environmental stewards is really key to a sustainable future.”
Nate Crook, 11, enjoyed participating in the cleanup and encouraged others to get involved in the future.
“I picked up a little bit of garbage, I spent about a half hour picking up thistles, and the rest of the time picking up (plants) that aren’t from around here. They just started popping up randomly, so we had to pick them up.”
Local residents, along with Town of Bonnyville parks and recreation employees, all worked together to round up a trailer full of garbage and weeds.
“I think we did a great job, and it was really nice to have the community help,” expressed Ratte.
Crook noted the event has a couple of benefits for those who come out to lend a hand.
“One is obviously to clean up and improve the water quality, but also to inspire people to take action and to maybe make some small changes if they’re using the trail, walking along to grab a piece of trash that they see, and throw it in the garbage. The two sides are to improve the environment, but also to encourage people to live cleaner and more sustainable.”
