Junction Triangle

Michael helping clean up litter on the Railpath, south of Bloor near Tower Automotive.

Photo by Vic Gedris, 2009-09-23.

Some spray paint cans and other litter that was cleaned up on the West Toronto Railpath.

Photo by Vic Gedris, 2009-09-23.

As you probably already know and have even possibly experienced in one way or another, Campbell Park was used as a temporary garbage dump during the recent City of Toronto workers strike.

The "garbage strike", as it was often referred to, lasted for just over one month, and our local rink at Campbell Park was used as a temporary dump site for approximately two weeks starting around July 16th. A group of residents calling themselves Friends of Campbell Park protested the use of Campbell Park as a dump.

Over the August long weekend, City Staff finally hauled the garbage away and started to clean up the rink. However, people are reporting that the site is still contaminated with the sticky leftovers of two weeks worth of garbage runoff.

Since I was away and unable to truly experience the effects of this strike on Campbell Park myself, I will leave it up to these media / blog / photo links to tell the story. If you have any of your own stories or comments about how this strike affected our neighbourhood, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Media / Blog Links:

• Protests mark opening of new temporary dumps, CTV, July 16 2009
• Residents upset with three new dump sites, Toronto Star, July 16 2009
• Residents to protest Campbell Park dump site, The Villager / Inside Toronto, July 16 2009
• New Day, New Dump Sites, CityNews, July 16 2009 (With video)
• Campbell Park anti-dumping protest: it was a circus, Michael's Bloor-Lansdowne Blog, July 17 2009.
• Photos from Thursday's protest at Campbell Park, Michael's Bloor-Lansdowne Blog, July 19 2009
• Park fans trash dump-free CNE, Toronto Sun, July 21 2009
• Campbell Park garbage protesters chain selves, CTV, July 22 2009
• Clean up our park: Residents, Toronto Sun, July 28 2009
• Garbage pickup resumes as some steamed over dumps, CTV, August 4 2009
• Garbage gone but contamination fears remain, The Villager / Inside Toronto, August 6 2009

A few more photo links on Flickr:

• Campbell Park Garbage Park, by Martin Reis
• The Big Clean-up, by Martin Reis
• TOStrike - Human Chain, Friends of Campbell Park, by Himy Syed

South Perth Ave. and Sterling Road Residents Association, Spring 2009 Community Cleanup flyer.

On Saturday April 25th 2009 the annual Community Clean-up Day happens in neighbourhoods all across Toronto.

Last year, the SJTRA organized a cleanup of Campbell and Erwin Krickhahn Park, with good results. The South Perth and Sterling RA also had a cleanup in their section of the neighbourhood.

The South Perth Ave. and Sterling Rd. Residents Association organized a Fall Cleanup on October 4th, 2008. Approximately 10 people helped to pick up litter and other trash, and clear overgrown weeds from the neighbourhood.

Picking weeds and litter during the cleanup organized by the South Perth and Sterling Residents Association.

Photo by Vic Gedris, 2008-10-04

Picking weeds and litter during the cleanup organized by the South Perth and Sterling Residents Association.

Photo by Vic Gedris, 2008-10-04

Some of the garbage collected during the cleanup organized by the South Perth and Sterling Residents Association.

Photo by Vic Gedris, 2008-10-04

Some of the weeds and other garbage collected during the cleanup organized by the South Perth and Sterling Residents Association.

Photo by Vic Gedris, 2008-10-04