Tudor and Cashel family cleans up their road

April 21, 2021

By Mike Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On its Facebook page on April 15, Tudor and Cashel Township gave a shout out to locals Melissa Davidson and her two sons, Ethan and Alexander, for picking up garbage along the side of the road they live on, Stoney Settlement Road. The township told them that “they rocked” and that they truly appreciated their dedication to keeping the township clean. Davidson says that they did it not only to clean up the road, but to raise awareness about littering.

Melissa Davidson says that the clean up day she had with her sons five-year-old Ethan and Alexander, who is 18 months old, was on April 14. They went out for about an hour around 6 p.m. She says her husband Dwayne has lived in Tudor and Cashel for about 30 years, and they bought their home on Stoney Settlement Road five years ago.

“Last year was the first year we started [picking up garbage]. On a walk with Ethan and Alex, who was still in a stroller, he asked me why there was so much garbage on the side of the road. I took this opportunity to explain what littering was. He asked if we could clean it up and on our next walk, we brought some trash bags with us and started. I sent the picture in and he was recognized over Facebook last year,” she says.

Again, this year, Ethan pointed out all the garbage and suggested to his Mom that they go and pick it all up, which is what they did.

“He kept saying that we should tell people not to litter, so I have a video of him giving this message ‘Litter is bad, you should save the Earth. So, pick up your litter, okay?’ When I asked Ethan what he thought about all the garbage his response was ‘I think the Earth will be broken forever.’ This coming from a five-year-old! We talked about how we can help save the Earth if we each do our part,” she says.

Davidson says that so far, they had filled two contractor sized garbage bags without getting a full kilometre in, which she says speaks to how much garbage there was. They found more than just the usual coffee cups and beer cans tossed out from vehicle windows. They also found multiple dump sites which contained garbage bags full of trash, and found books, toys, DVDs and shoes among the usual household garbage. She says Ethan is already talking about going out again, and how they’ll need to bring more than two bags with them this time.

“I sent in the pictures [of her family’s garbage clean up] to Sheryl [Scott, deputy clerk and administrative assistant in Tudor and Cashel] and I did this for a few reasons. One, because I feel that not enough good is shared. This past year has been extremely hard and everywhere you turn is overwhelmed with negativity or disheartening news. I have always been big on spreading positivity and I am hoping to pass this quality along to my boys also. The other reason I shared with Sheryl and over my own social media was for awareness. Every little bit adds up,” she says.

Mayor Libby Clarke said it was wonderful to see the Davidson children being socially responsible at such a young age.

“The surprise to me was the huge load of garbage they had collected and put in their wagons,” she says. “We could all learn from them on how to keep our community clean.”