Give Calgary a 20-Minute Makeover!
If you've ever joined in a group-cleaning of an area (maybe you've joined the annual pathway cleanup) you've likely experienced how fast it can be to make our public spaces litter-free.
So, let's give'r for a 20-Minute of Makeover of Calgary!
From Wednesday, June 6 to Saturday, June 9, 2012, all Calgarians are invited to join in a city-wide litter cleanup. Grab garbage bags and gloves and clean up a boulevard, back alley, or park – any public space that would benefit from a few minutes of TLC. Then just drop the collected litter in your regular garbage.
What difference can 20 minutes make? A BIG ONE! If one in four Calgarians takes 20 minutes to pick up litter, we will invest 5,000,000 minutes, 83,333 hours, or 2,222 work days cleaning up our city. That's a major makeover! If each of us gives just 20 minutes picking up litter in public spaces, we will all benefit from a cleaner, safer city.
Who can participate in the 20-Minute Makeover? All Calgarians - individuals and families, neighbours, schools, corporate and community groups - are all welcome to participate. Be part of building stronger communities!
Join the challenge by going to our sign up page and be counted!
Why not make a party of it? If you have a group of ten or more, garbage bags and a t-shirts will be available for your group. Everyone who signs up will be entered to win prizes. While registration is optional, we encourage you to sign up so we can map the cleanup.
We also encourage you to post your before and after photos on
The Ogden Road fire: Reason to be proud
Late last night, Calgary Fire Department crews successfully extinguished the long-smouldering fire at Calgary Metal Recycling. While clean-up efforts will continue for several days, Ogden Road has re-opened to traffic and neighbouring businesses were allowed to resume their operations on Thursday morning.
On behalf of all Calgarians, I want to thank Calgary Emergency Management Agency Director Bruce Burrell and the rest of his team for their professional handling of a very tricky situation. Firefighting, efforts to minimize smoke and dust, and ongoing monitoring of air quality required a high degree of coordination amongst a multi-disciplinary response team. Yet, during the ten days for which the Municipal Emergency Plan was activated, there were no injuries reported and disruption to businesses in the area, and to Calgarians in general, was kept to a bare minimum.
Fires, especially ones like these, can easily get out of control if not handled properly. There was real risk with this fire, but the fact that it was not a major problem is a testament to how well this emergency was managed.
I am proud of how all of the parties involved – City departments, provincial agencies, neighbouring businesses and the site owners and contractors – were able to cooperate to achieve this ideal result.
I am particularly grateful for the patience displayed by everyone affected by this fire, especially the neighbouring businesses and residents in the area. Your understanding of the complexity of this situation and acceptance that it might not be an easy resolution was so important to ensure that CEMA could focus on the task at hand.
Thank you all.
- Mayor Naheed Nenshi
