Nine-year-old Raia Patrick-Prince is not satisfied with waiting for stewardship of her neighbourhood to be passed down to her.
Six weeks ago, the Ron Brent elementary Grade 3 student began giving up half of her monthly allowance and her Sunday afternoons to tackle environmental issues head on.
"I didn't like seeing garbage all along the road," said Raia, who created the Eco-Guardians Club to address litter issues in the VLA. "I liked seeing the ducks playing [in the slough]."
From 2 to 4 p.m. every Sunday, rain or shine, Raia, her mother Amanda Prince and any neighbourhood kids willing to join in set off from Hadih House on Pine Street and wind through the paths along the Hudson's Bay Slough and other areas in the neighbourhood.
They spend the first hour picking up litter with supplies donated from REAPS, the city and McDonald's and the second hour playing and learning about what they saw during their trek.
Among the things she's learned is that styrofoam takes lifetimes to decompose and that animals can become tangled in plastic pop-can rings, Raia said. She has also come across needles and crack pipes, which her mother handles.
Prince said she thought her daughter's plan for the club was ambitious, but was supportive.
"My daughter is more eco-conscious than I am," she said, noting that last summer Raia yelled at a 14-year-old boy she saw dropping an empty chip bag on the street.
"It's good to have community pride," Prince added. "All of her friends are here and she wants to be in a place where it's safe for them to go out."
Ultimately, Raia said she would like to see her club grow to cover more ground.
Any child over the age of four who wants to join Raia's Eco-Guardians Club can meet her and her mother Sundays at 2 p.m. outside Hadih House (2105 Pine St.). Parents are asked to accompany children under the age of seven for the afternoon.
