No tricks, just trash: Halloween cleanup sweeps through downtown Dartmouth

Halloween came early to downtown Dartmouth on Thursday, as a colourful cast of characters traded trick-or-treating for litter busting.

A banana, a knight, Spider-Man and a pair of crayons were among the volunteers who took to the streets Oct. 29 for “Pick or Sweep,” a Halloween-themed community cleanup hosted by the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission.

Volunteer Harshneet Singh attended the cleanup and said he loves doing social things for the Dartmouth community. (Credit: Lynnette Alford)

The group gathered at the Tim Hortons on Portland Street before heading out with litter pickers, gloves and garbage bags to give the neighbourhood a pre-Halloween tidy-up.

The event put a festive spin on the commission’s regular cleanups, bringing together residents, local business community members and volunteers already involved in tackling litter across the HRM.

Sue Hartlen (right) hands out trash bags. (Credit: Lynnette Alford)

Among them was Mona Clarke, dressed as a banana, who works with The Ditch Divers, a volunteer group dedicated to cleaning up roadsides, trails, ditches, and shorelines across the municipality. Clarke has been plogging – a Swedish term for picking up litter and moving – since she was a teen.

Sue Hartlen won best dressed in her homemade Mickey Mouse costume.

Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man was busy fighting litter instead of villains during Thursday’s “Pick or Sweep” Halloween cleanup in downtown Dartmouth. (Credit: Lynnette Alford)

Jesse Sharratt, dressed as a knight, brought along his young son in a Spider-Man costume. Sharratt regularly collects litter on walks with his son, and developed the World Litter Run website to support community cleanup efforts. He is currently also working on a camera-equipped litter picker that could automatically track and categorize garbage.

Behind the event was Luke MacDonald, better known online as “Luke the Litter Picker,” who traded his usual work clothes for a blue crayon costume.

Luke MacDonald and his sister Sue pose for a photo dressed as crayons. (Credit: Lynnette Alford)

MacDonald, a former running store owner who now works for the DDBC, has spent the past two years working to make the downtown streets cleaner.

He said the difference is noticeable, although cigarette butts remain a persistent challenge.

MacDonald believes a clean neighbourhood encourages people to keep it that way.

“The less litter there is, less people litter,” he told the Post.

But his interest in litter picking goes beyond appearances. After discovering its benefits for his own mental well-being, MacDonald began encouraging others to give it a try.

“People start to like picking up after other people, and understand that it’s really good for mental health,” he said. “I guess that’s the bottom line, because my ultimate goal is to reduce community stress.”

His work is supported by Tim Hortons, which sponsors his World Litter Run initiatives. Local franchise owner Tim Baker also supports regular cleanups around his restaurants through monthly donations to End Polio Now.

MacDonald hopes to organize 20 cleanup events next year and eventually build a network of volunteers responsible for different neighbourhoods across the HRM.

For him, the payoff isn’t just cleaner streets, but the effect those spaces have on the people who use them.

“I think it just sets the tone of joy and happiness.”