I Am Surprised That City Unions Are Not Crying Out "SCAB"

But then I guess if I were the highest paid municipal workers in the province and my job was guaranteed for life and the mayor was at my beck and call I would allow the mayor and some concerned citizens some slack.....btw how many bags of litter do the INDIVIDUAL city workers pickup each day?

"Litter Guy" Picks Up Where PAID Garbage Collectors Leave Off
Friday April 20, 2007

Shopping carts.

Old bikes.

Diapers.

Newspapers.

And a few things you really don't want to have identified.

All that and more were among the items some 180,000 people picked up, scooped up or dragged into the trash as part of the city's annual 20-Minute Makeover Clean-up Day.

The city asked residents to come out for 20 minutes at 2pm Friday to help get rid of some of the trash accumulated over the winter.

But no one did quite the job that an unusual man named Mark did.

You may have seen him around the downtown core. He's known as The Litter Guy and you can't miss him.

He has a huge garbage bag in one hand and a sign on his back that reads "Keep our city clean. Donate food or $. Support me and my cause."

Yes, it's a form of begging but it seems to be working - Mark has been at it for about ten months, in what's become something of a fulltime gig that's made him into a local character.

"There's not just picking up the litter," he explains. "There's more to it than that. That you're making a safe city."

Unlike most garbage collectors, Mark will go anywhere to fulfill his mission.

"I do Yonge all the way up to Bloor," he outlines. "I've been at Yonge and Eglinton, Queen, College, Kensington Market. I've been all the way up to the 407, man."

He doesn't do it for the money, although he admits he mostly breaks even. He does it because it needs to get done.

"I buy the garbage bags, five for a buck and then if I fill up 80 of these plus a day and if I don't make as much to cover the costs, I lose money."

Mark supports the idea of the GTA clean-up day, but wishes it would go on all year long.

And he'd like other people to join him in his refuse rounds.

"A lot of people are going on, like, how the drop in tourism was because of the homeless and because of the litter. Why do you take two negatives instead of bitching about it and make it into a positive?"

This weekend, at least, Mark won't be alone.

This Saturday is Community Clean-up Day, and will include Ajax, Markham, Mississauga, Oakville, Pickering, Richmond Hill and Vaughan.

Individuals don't need to register, but they're asked to put the bags of litter they collect out with their regular garbage on pick-up day.

Mark will be there among them. And while he may not make any money, you can bet he'll still find a way to really clean up.

For more info on how to get involved in Saturday's activities, click here.