The Manitoba woman who takes daily trips to collect garbage
One woman has taken it upon herself to ensure the streets of Brandon, Man., are clean and welcoming for all residents and visitors.
Gisele Charette has been going out every morning and collecting garbage in the Brandon area, including in the bushes of the North Hill, along parts of Braecrest Drive and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Depending on the weather, Charette travels on foot or on her bike for four to five hours a day.
“It’s kind of the welcome mat to Brandon when you come in from the Trans-Canada,” she said.
“If it doesn’t look good, I don’t think people will turn in and stay for a while. Now it looks good and I think people feel safer when it’s clean.”
Charette said she was motivated to take on this initiative by her desire to take care of the community.
“I come from a farming background and my mom and dad are just active in taking care of things like picking up garbage around the farm and things like that,” she said.
“It was just a normal thing. There was lots to be had. It was bad to look at, that’s why I started.”
Charette notes that she bags the garbage, which is then picked up by Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.
HOW DID SHE GET STARTED?
This initiative is something Charette has been doing for many years.
She moved to Brandon in 2005, and would bike to neighbouring towns to collect the garbage.
Charette then started to notice she was picking up a lot of beer cans and beer bottles and began to keep track.
“From 2015 to 2018, that was four years, I had 34,327 beer cans and 828 beer bottles,” she said.
Charette added she has also found some unexpected items including dentures, shopping carts, and a fish with the hook still attached to its mouth.
THE RESPONSE
The community is thankful for Charette’s initiative.
She said every few days someone will come up and thank her or give her words of praise. Some people have even offered her gift cards or to buy her lunch.
“Such nice comments,” Charette said.
“Everyone is so happy. They’re just so happy. If everybody pitches in, we’re going to have a really good-looking town here.”
Charette added that words of gratitude have a deep and long-lasting impact on her, and give her motivation.
“I just value what people say when they say, ‘thank you,’” she said.
“They honk their horn or they give a wave.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.