How do I get involved?
Individuals and families can apply to get involved as a volunteer, by contacting Clean North:
By Telephone:
- Call the Clean North office 705-945-1573
- Please be prepared to leave a message with your name and telephone number. If a student, please also tell us your school name and grade.
- If you want to volunteer for a specific project please say so.
- Someone will return your call within a few days
By E-mail:
- Send a message to: volunteer@cleannorth.org
- Please tell us your name and telephone number. If a student, please also tell us your school name and grade.
- If you want to volunteer for a specific project please let us know.
- Someone will reply, either by e-mail or by telephone within a few days
Clean North Projects
Ongoing Year Round Projects
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Compost Demonstration (1 position)
Clean North volunteers manage several compost waste demonstration projects that require ongoing support at least twice a week for several hours. Duties include collecting compost waste and moving it to the compost demonstration site; washing and rinsing waste collection pails; periodic "turning" of the compost pile.
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Office Maintenance, Janitorial, Snow Removal and Waste
Management (1 position)
The Clean North office is maintained by volunteers who keep it clean and in good repair. Duties include vacuuming, sweeping and mopping floors; washroom janitorial, dusting; window cleaning; blue and yellow box recycling (plus garbage); and parking lot snow removal.
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Office Clerk (1 position)
The Clean North office is staffed by volunteers who make things happen. Duties include: answering telephones; office filing; typing; data entry; bookkeeping and other office type jobs.
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Newsletter Reporter (1 position)
Clean North publishes a quarterly paper newsletter and a more frequent electronic e-news update. The reporter gathers information from other volunteers and prepares short articles for submission to the newsletter editor.
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Website Maintenance and Support (1 position)
The Clean North web-site (www.cleannorth.org) is constantly in need of revision to post new and updated information. There are also on-line bulletin boards where information about upcoming events is posted. Duties include reviewing current information on the web-site, suggesting changes to improve clarity or content, implementing approved changes and posting information to local e-bulletin boards.
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2nd Coat Paint Exchange (1 position)
The paint exchange project collects usable latex paint and offers it for sale at a low price. Duties include: checking and mixing paint; labeling and pricing paint for sale; customer service and sales.
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Imagination Station Playshop (2 positions)
The Imagination Station receives clean dry waste material (wood, metal, paper and plastic) and makes it available for arts and crafts. Duties include: receiving new material (sorting and weighing); record keeping and facilitating children's playshops (birthday parties, class field trips)
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Resource Library (2 positions)
Clean North volunteers operate a resource library of material related to environmental issues. Duties include: cataloging and filing new material; checking out and in of library loans; assisting users with finding library material.
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High School Environment Network (8 positions)
Clean North tries to network high school students who are concerned with environmental issues. We can offer support and mentoring in forming and running a school environmental club. Clubs representatives from individual schools can use the Clean North office for after school HSEN meetings to share ideas and plan joint projects.
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Tree Growing for Community Tree Planting (3
positions during growing season)
Clean North volunteers are growing hundreds of trees for community tree planting projects. Duties include: transplanting; watering; and weeding.
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Community Garden (2 positions)
Clean North volunteers participate in the Community Garden project located next to the Red Cross office building on Allard Street. Duties include: construction of raised bed planters; digging and turning of soil; planting seeds and plants; watering and weeding; and composting activities.
Periodic Recurring Projects
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Three R's Festival and Christmas Tree Chipping (25
positions)
The depot opens immediately after Christmas and remains open until Chipping Day, which is, the Sunday following the Epiphany (i.e. Little Christmas); in 2004 Tree Chipping Day will be Sunday 11 January. For the two weeks that the depot is open Clean North volunteers provide a customer service function, greeting the public and assisting with the unloading and piling of trees and other recyclable material being collected. On Chipping Day, a small army of volunteers move individual trees off the pile and over to the chipper operators; another group of volunteers keep the coffee and hot chocolate flowing; at the end of the day there is some packing, moving and cleanup.
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Bring Out Your Dead (BOYD) Computer and Electronics
Recycling (10 positions)
Twice a year (April and October) Clean North hosts a computer and electronics recycling event. Volunteers are needed to receive the material dropped off, sort and test useful items, sell working items to the public at garage sale prices, and pack the junk for shipping off for recycling.
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Community Litter Cleanup (5 positions)
Small groups of volunteers work together to clean up a neighbourhood where there is a litter problem. These events usually happen in the spring just after the snow goes when the litter is most noticeable.
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Annual Garage Sale (4 positions)
An important fundraising event usually held on a Saturday in the spring or summer. Volunteers sort and price donated items on Friday evening and then run the sale starting early Saturday morning.
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Rain Barrel Assembly (4 positions)
In 2002 Clean North sold several dozen rain barrels as a very successful fundraising project. We plan to repeat this in the years to come. There will be a rain-barrel "bee", sometime before spring 2003, where a group of volunteers will assemble several dozens of rain barrels over the course of an afternoon. All the work will involve using safe and simple hand tools.
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Community Tree Planting (4 positions)
Clean North volunteers are involved with community tree planting projects in the spring of each year. Past years projects have involved schools, youth groups and a number of public agencies. Volunteer duties include delivery of the trees, instructing other volunteers about how the trees are to be planted and planting of some trees.
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Aluminum Can Fundraiser (4 positions)
A remote tourist camp operator supports Clean North by donating the several thousand aluminum cans left behind by his (mainly American) guests at the end of the summer. Clean North volunteers sort through the cans to extract those with a return deposit in Ontario or Michigan and the remaining cans are sold locally as scrap aluminum.
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Leaf Collection for Composting (2 positions)
In the fall of the year we collect leaves for use the following year in our community composting projects. Volunteers rake and bag leaves.
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Seed Collection for Community Tree Planting (2
positions)
Trees for community planting are ideally grown from a local native seed source. In the fall we collect small quantities of acorns, nuts and other tree seeds for planting the following year.
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Office Carpet Installation (6 positions)
In February 2003, Clean North will be laying new carpet at our storefront location. We hope to do this over a weekend and volunteer duties include: moving office furniture off the carpet; ripping out the old carpet; laying the new carpet; and moving the office furniture back.
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Earth Day Celebration Events (4 positions)
Earth Day is April 22. Clean North tries to celebrate this time by hosting one or more special events. In 2001 it was an Earth Day World's Fair. Depending on ideas and volunteers we may do something again in 2003.
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Green Garden Tour (4 positions)
The Green Garden Tour showcases interesting yards and gardens that are environmentally friendly and generally pesticide-free. The tour takes place on a Saturday early in July. Volunteers are needed to help with promotion, displays and to act as tour guides the day of the event.