Tag Archives: Garbage

Old Encampment tough to remove.

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The layers of specialty run deep at City Hall and particularly the various teams of the Parks and Rec. people.

The people who set this up are long gone but the memory lingers on… April 28, 2026.

This collection of garbage from an abandoned encampment has been sitting for what looks like a few months in the middle of the wild area just south of the parking lot. I discovered it while doing research on Hurricane Hazel. One would expect that the city would want it cleaned up quickly.

11 days ago, I submitted a request to 311 to have the area cleaned up. Yesterday I phoned to check on progress and this morning I had a message from Jacqueline at Parks saying that the reason it has taken so long is as follows:

First the site had to be checked by the Encampments Team to make sure it’s not active. Ok, fair enough. This took place on April 20.

Next, Parks Operations checked out the site and determined that it’s too close to the ravine. It’s on flat ground and nowhere near the water but whatever.

A view of the mess from the other direction. April 28, 2026.

The Ravines Team was then assigned. I guess the Encampments Team isn’t able to make such determinations.

Great, so where’s the Ravines Team? Sadly, the Ravines Team cannot do their job because, “Conditions are not great because of all the rain so we don’t send our staff out until things have settled in terms of terrain and stability”. I assume that they worry their truck will get stuck in the soft ground.

By sheer chance, a clean-up crew from TRCA (with a canopy tent) was present in the park today and about a dozen able-bodied people emerged from a huge bus ready to do a park clean-up. There were grabbers galore for ease of pick-up and lots of gloves and garbage bags.

I talked to a lady under the canopy tent and let her know about the old encampment. I offered to guide people to where it was but she insisted she would find it. She told me the park had vey little litter to pick up otherwise.

This story has a happy ending – right?

A bus dropping off a TRCA clean-up team at 10:05 on April 28, 2026.

Wrong!

On returning this afternoon, TRCA and the canopy tent had vanished but sadly the garbage hadn’t. Rain is forecast for the next seven days so conditions will continue to be too wet for the Ravines Team.

In the meantime, this garbage will pollute the park and encourage others to do so. Call me naive but how hard would it be to keep the truck on the path while the team bags and carries the garbage 70 metres to the truck?

Community clean-up day.

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Today is Community Clean-up Day and in honour of the day, I brought a plastic shopping bag with me and went through the wild area with Mugsey. It’s bitterly cold today and with the temperature just above zero the park was almost empty.

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A typical collection of garbage found in the wild area.

Amongst other bits of human detritus there was a glove, many plastic bags and wrappers, 4 plastic bottles, 1 bag of dog poo (left by my friend ‘Dave)’, a couple of other bags of dog poo, a grade 9 math text, chunks of styrofoam, cigarette packs etc.

Not a bad haul and I could have filled another bag in the wild area alone but since every day is clean-up day for me, it can wait until tomorrow. Another bag or two and the wild area should be clear of trash. The theory goes that people are more reluctant to drop litter if the place is clean.

There was one other person in the park, a lady with a very active small dog that seemed bent on chasing wildlife. When our paths crossed I gave her the greeting reserved for such occasions, ‘Hey, did you see the coyote when you went through there?’. The dog was put on leash in an instant and the two of them beat a hasty retreat. I hate lying but wildlife has a tough enough time in the park without being harassed by off-leash dogs and their inconsiderate owners.

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Park Clean Up

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Aren't people wonderful!

Aren’t people wonderful! All within easy reach of garbage cans too. Cycle path at Scarlett just north of La Rose.

On Tuesday I emailed local Councillor Doug Ford about the huge amount of litter along the cycle path just north of Eglinton.  Yesterday a clean-up crew came to this end of the park and unfortunately they missed most of the litter since they didn’t bother reaching over the 4′ fence or walking into the wild area. I called the park supervisor today today and he sent them out again very quickly.  The original concern i.e. the litter on the cycle path remains unaddressed.
Here is the email:

Hi Doug,

Now that the snow has gone, I notice there is a huge amount of garbage along the cycle path from just above Eglinton to just north of La Rose. I try and pick up the odd pieces of trash but this is beyond my abilities. I enclose a photograph for illustration purposes. I was wondering if a crew could be sent out to take care of this…

We have had a long winter and the snow has only just cleared. Regardless, there must be a way to keep on top of litter throughout the winter months. God forbid that a city worker should occasionally have to walk along the trail.

Some councillors organize community clean-up days where people in a neighbourhood spend a couple of hours hauling trash from local parks. I think this is passing the buck and neighbourhoods that aren’t so cohesive or those without strong community involvement end up being compromised even further.