Some Gimli residents are taking trash removal into their own hands to keep Gimli Beach litter-free and have created a so-called “beach bucket station” on the boardwalk where a bucket has been hung and can be used for trash collection.
But the Rural Municipality of Gimli said it will be removing and relocating the bucket.
Resident Brittany Isfeld said a post on a local social media site had residents calling for the RM to get on board with the idea of having some handy buckets available in the beach area so that people who want to gather trash have a means of carrying it to one of the large rubbish receptables lining the boardwalk. The beach bucket idea had been floating around for a while, but there was allegedly no uptake from the RM.
Anyone can get involved in picking up litter on the beach, including residents enjoying their daily constitutional, visitors spending time at the beach and school kids wanting to protect the ecosystem.
Isfeld said a community member donated a Canadian Tire bucket into which holes were drilled to let sand or water dribble out. It was installed on a pole just south of the RM’s beach washrooms.
“I’m hoping that local businesses such as perhaps Rona or Home Hardware or Timber Mart etc., step up to the plate [to donate more buckets] so that we can encourage people to clean up the beachfront,” said Isfeld.
The bucket has a message affixed to it. One side says, “Community Beach Clean Up Project” while the other says, “Let’s Love Our Lake. Brought to you by a caring community member. Feel free to use this bucket to collect rubbish as you enjoy our beautiful beach. Don’t be a fun killer and steal this bucket (that’s why we can’t have nice things). If this works, maybe the RM can add some.”
With several million litres of raw sewage (including pieces of debris such as plastic) that leaked into the Red River from a broken Winnipeg sewer pipe earlier this spring, Isfeld said she expects to see some of that garbage washing up along Gimli’s shoreline.
The Express reached out to the RM, asking whether it’s open to the idea of having buckets along the boardwalk that people can borrow to collect trash, and whether the RM would provide additional buckets.
Brenna Philp, the RM’s director of recreation & leisure services, said having buckets on the beach is a great idea and that the RM is already monitoring and cleaning up the beach regularly.
“This concept [beach buckets] has circulated throughout the RM of Gimli and other towns and municipalities for years from many different sources. It is a great idea to ensure that areas stay clean and free of garbage,” said Philp. “Gimli’s Beach is fortunate to have staff working diligently to ensure that the beach is garbage-free. Our park patrol does regular walks and inspections, including picking up garbage and providing garbage bags to families enjoying a picnic. Our public works department also uses their beach cleaner weekly.”
The RM also has staff monitoring the recently winterized beach bathrooms close to the Lakeview Resort to ensure no garbage is being blown around the area, including in the wintertime.
While the RM is appreciative of the grassroots initiative to encourage and facilitate garbage clean-up along the beach, Philp said the RM would prefer that people approach municipal staff before donating a bucket.
And the bucket a community member had installed on the pole near the beach washrooms last week will have to be removed and relocated.
“The RM is appreciative and would like to thank residents and visitors that already take the initiative to pick up any garbage they see on their walks. The rec office has discussed various options similar to the bucket concept that was hung on the pole and will likely pursue an option that does not involve hanging items but rather a location for the buckets to be placed near an existing garbage can to ensure they are emptied after being collected,” said Philp. “We would like to ask any residents who are willing to provide buckets on their own to discuss with RM staff prior to placing anywhere. While we appreciate the folks who hung the bucket shared on social media, the location of the bucket that was recently placed interferes with where the floatation ring is hung so we will need to relocate the bucket.”
Philp shared some other RM initiatives that will be introduced this year on the beach, including a designated “Take-a-Toy, Leave-a-Toy” station for kids visiting the beach and a lifejacket loaner program, which is an initiative of the Lifesaving Society of Manitoba.
“Lifejackets in various sizes will be available to sign out from the park patrol station at no cost to the user,” said Philp.
A third initiative is the installation of three new permanent flag poles. One will fly the Every Child Matters flag “as the RM continues to be committed to taking steps toward reconciliation,” said Philp. Another will fly resident Bruce Benson’s Flag of Humanity. The third pole will alternate between the RM of Gimli flag and flags raised for special occasions, such as Pride events.
