Gloves on, bags in hand, and community spirit high, residents and businesses in Cranbrook and Kimberley rallied during Earth Week to help clean up their neighbourhoods as part of two local initiatives: the week-long Springtime Spruce Up and the Co-Community Clean Up.
Organized by Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook, in collaboration with the City of Cranbrook, City of Kimberley, and Mountain Phoenix Community Culture, both events aimed to rejuvenate shared spaces and nurture a sense of collective care and stewardship.
Springtime Spruce Up: A Business-Led Boost
The week-long Springtime Spruce Up saw a surge in participation from local businesses, schools, and community groups, more than doubling engagement from past years. Teams selected their own clean-up locations and schedules, receiving supplies and marketing materials to help showcase their efforts.
In addition to putting in the work, many businesses amplified the campaign by sharing their involvement on social media, sparking more community awareness and engagement. A special shoutout goes to these community leaders for their involvement:
Cranbrook Toyota
Silver Path Financial Solutions
Kootenay Insurance Services
Royal LePage East Kootenay Realty (Cranbrook & Kimberley)
Kootenay Savings Credit Union (Kimberley)
Small Batch Family Care (Kimberley)
Summit Church Youth Group
To celebrate team spirit, Domino’s Pizza donated a prize pack to one participating team in each community. Cranbrook Toyota and EK Realty in Kimberley will be enjoying a pizza party to celebrate a job well done very soon.
Co-Community Clean Up: Sunshine, Stories & Prizes
On Saturday, April 26, residents gathered for the Co-Community Clean Up, a family-friendly event encouraging people of all ages to help clean up public spaces. The turnout, while modest, was enthusiastic and brought a vibrant energy to both communities. Organizers see this as a strong foundation to continue building on.
Volunteers tackled 14 routes in Kimberley and 12 in Cranbrook, collecting garbage from streets, green spaces, parking lots and Rails to Trails. In Kimberley, the reduced volume of litter was a welcome sign of progress; however, much more energy is still required in Cranbrook to close the gap between the two communities. Because safety is our first priority, we are exploring new ways to address the busier and higher-speed routes on either side of Kimberley. These areas were not included in the Clean Up this year.
Among the highlights were the many returning volunteers, and highly spirited community groups like the Rotary Clubs of Cranbrook and Kimberley and the Kimberley Chamber of Commerce, who infused the event with fun, colour, and a lot of heart. A refreshing and encouraging sight on our sunny Saturday morning was the well organized, highly enthusiastic groups of younger folks that arrived ready and excited to make a difference in their community. We hope to see that demographic grow with this event.
Participants texted photos of their unique and interesting finds as entry into the generous prize pool! Old work boots that never missed a day to an oil barrel acting as an ant habitat were amongst the entries. Prize categories included:
Most Unique Piece of Garbage
Largest Piece of Garbage
Most Colourful Team
Plus random draw prizes in each community
🎉 Prize Winners – Kimberley:
- Most Colourful Team: “Talking Rubbish” (East Kootenay Realty Kimberley: $50 Pedal & Tap gift card)
- Most Unique Piece: Mel Pushie (Trickle Creek Golf Resort: Golf/cart/driving range for 2 people)
- Largest Piece: “Trash Pandas” (City of Kimberley: Swag bag)
- Draw Prize:
- Shannon White (Kootenay Savings Credit Union: 2 travel mugs, fuzzy blanket)
🎉 Prize Winners – Cranbrook:
- Most Colourful Team: Western Financial (Encore Brewing bowling gift certificate)
- Most Unique Piece: Jenna White (Cranbrook Toyota: oil change, coffee mugs, multi-tool)
- Largest Piece: Jade Daniels (East Kootenay Realty Cranbrook: $50 Heidout gift card)
- Draw Prizes:
- Linette Ullman (City of Cranbrook 10x swim pass)
- Emma Fisk (Cranbrook Toyota: oil change, coffee mugs, multi-tool)
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These efforts were made possible through the generous support of sponsors and community partners:
GFL Environmental
Kimberley Chamber of Commerce
Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce
Western Financial Place
Brian Sondergaard Photography
Drew Leitermen Photography
Columbia Basin Trust
Bavarian Home Hardware
BC Ambulance Service
“Every hand made a difference, whether it was a solo volunteer, a team of coworkers, or a business bringing out their staff,” said Pam Walsh, City of Kimberley. “We’re proud of what was achieved this week and excited to build even more momentum in 2026.”
We’re already looking forward to next year’s Earth Week. Let’s keep growing this movement, together.
