'The impact is huge': Victoria litter-picker makes global connections
Before David started spending his lunch hours walking up and down the streets of a neighbourhood he doesn’t live in, he was stuck at home during the pandemic.
“I felt really unhealthy and I’m like, what changed?” David recalls. “I realized I wasn’t walking as much.”
So the Victoria man got out to get some exercise while waiting to return to work as a librarian.
“I enjoy connecting people to the information they need,” David says.
But then he started noticing how people were disconnecting with material they no longer needed during his walks.
“And I thought I can grab a bucket and some gloves and start picking up litter,” David says. “I enjoy it.”
It proved to be so satisfying to remove the things that didn’t belong that David challenged himself to pick up litter on every single street in his neighbourhood.
“It feels like you’re making a difference,” he smiles.
David spent up to two hours a day charting his progress on colour-coded maps and keeping a running total of the rubbish he wrangled.
“1,455 litres of trash,” David says, pointing to one of his maps. “I can see the impact of my action.”
After removing every piece of litter he could find in his community, David moved on to do the same in the neighbourhood next to his.
“It doesn’t take much to pick up trash around you,” David says. “And the impact is huge.”
Thanks to the daily trash picture he posts on social media, David has connected with and inspired garbage-grabbers around the world, from Australia to the U.K.
He even appeared briefly in a story about litter-picker-uppers on a national newscast in the U.S.
“You think you can’t make a difference,” David says. “But you absolutely can.”
Like one less piece of garbage on the ground can make a neighbourhood nicer, one more person caring for their community makes the world better.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.