MI holds spring clean sweep

Under a cover of fog, cadets from the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School (CFNES) Detachment St. John’s along with MI employees carried out Operation Clean Sweep, the 4th annual spring clean-up of the Marine Institute grounds

The CFNES Detachment has organized the event since 2010 and invited participants to an afternoon barbeque to thank them for volunteering.

“Practicing pollution prevention and increasing environmental awareness are two important staples of the Canadian Forces code of environmental stewardship,” said Detachment Commander Alan Brown. “Operation Clean Sweep is an excellent opportunity for CFNES students to raise environmental awareness by working alongside their Marine Institute counterparts and faculty in cleaning up our campus.”

Canadian Forces Bases across Canada conduct annual spring cleanups to remove litter and other debris that collects during the winter. It helps build morale and inspires members of the Canadian Forces to take ownership and pride in their bases.

This year, 37 bags of garbage were collected by the volunteers, which significantly improved the appearance of the MI campus in a short period.

“The Navy has been taking the lead on the campus clean-up for the past few years. The first year there were lots of large items – car parts and small fridges brought up from the woods out back. It’s good to see that we just had smaller debris this year, a sign that the campus is cleaner overall. Let’s look to keep it that way,” said Catherine Dutton, head, School of Maritime Studies.