Enter this contest to keep Squamish clean and win prizes

I’ve always had a bit of a compulsion to pick up trash, and lately I’ve been disheartened by the amount of litter I see while out and about recreating in beautiful Squamish.

I know it is not something I can tackle on my own and that there is strength in numbers, so I came up with the #KeepSquamishClean contest, as well as starting a Facebook group (Squamish Ploggers) as a place to organize grassroots clean-up events!

Initially for the contest, I offered a $50 voucher to any local business as an incentive, awarded to a randomly selected entry once a month for the next three months. However, shortly after posting the contest on various Squamish social media groups, I received an outpour of support from local businesses and the community, doubling the prize amount to $100/month and donating many other great prizes!

The contest is open to anybody and is easy to enter:

1. Take out at least one handful of garbage you found in and around recreation areas in Squamish!
2. Take your picture of the garbage, let us know where you found it, post on Instagram or Facebook and tag it with #KeepSquamishClean! (be sure the post is public so we can find it!)
3. If possible, recycle the waste instead of just throwing it in the trash!
4. Be safe! Use rubber gloves and/or sanitize your hands after!
5. One entry per person per month (post by the end of each month) and no sharing garbage please!

At the end of each month from August to October, one post will be randomly selected for the $100 voucher and other donated prizes will be awarded to other randomly selected posts. Winners will be notified by DM on social media.

While I know this is a responsive solution, not a proactive one, and that there is more that can be done around education of leave no trace ethics, I thought this would be a fun way to foster a spirit of community and the idea that if we all work together, we can keep this special place beautiful!

Supporters of the #KeepSquamishClean contest include Corsa Cycles, Shred Shuttle, Panago Pizza Squamish, Nikkii Beis Hair Services, Watson Gloves, Howe Sound Brewing, as well as Julia Hazeldine Bonnell, who matched the initial prize amount to make it $100/month!

Heidi Manicke is a geological engineer and and environmental geoscientist who lives in Brackendale.