Montrealer Carolina Yanez has not only been turning heads – she’s been turning over trash.
She walks around Montreal parks like the Lafontaine Park in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, with her signature pink signs and pink safety sash, cleaning up garbage.
“It’s really easy. You just show up,” Yanez said. “There’s always going to be garbage.”
Armed with pink gloves, reusable bags, and a pair of long tongs with googly eyes she affectionately calls “Carmencita,” she calls herself “The Trashy Lady.”
Yanez started documenting her clean-up crusade on Instagram in early July. Since then, her account has picked up momentum, growing to more than 800 followers. Committed to a 50-day challenge of clearing Montreal’s streets, Yanez is already 12 days into cleaning up the city.
A post shared by The Trashy Lady (@trashyladymtl)
She said she picks up close to 400 pieces of trash along local parks and on sidewalks during her evening litter patrols three times a week.
Prior to starting her 50-day challenge, Yanez started picking up trash around her neighborhood to help with her mental health.
“I normally have seasonal depression. So in spring it gets real nasty,” Yanez said.
She said her trash-collecting outings have been therapeutic for her in this respect, as well as overcoming struggles as a “recovering perfectionist.”
“This is a problem that’s very therapeutic for me to solve or not solve because it’s unsolvable. There’s always going to be trash,” Yanez said. “So it’s helpful for me to to know that I’m doing something that will never end that doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Originally from Ecuador, she immigrated to Montreal at the age of 17 to study at Polytechnique.
She said that while picking up trash may seem small, to her, it’s a meaningful way to give back.
“Canada is my adopted country.” Yanez said. “I feel now part Canadian and I want to make it a good place.”
While she’s no fan of people who litter, Yanez does have a soft spot for another sort of litter — the cat kind. The Trashy Lady uses her Instagram to fundraise for the SPCA, Quebec’s leading animal rescue organization.
She said the idea came after seeing pet owners forced to give up animals during the city’s July 1 Moving Day due to a lack of pet-friendly housing.
She’s raised over $4,000 in donations for the SPCA as of Friday.
“I thought at the beginning it was a bit cruel, like people were cruel abandoning their pets. But sometimes the decision is really between having shelter or having your pets,” Yanez said.
Yanez said Montreal’s trash problem is bigger than herself and is connected to social issues that need attention.
She said many people experiencing homelessness search through garbage bins to collect cans they can return for money — something that often leads to messes. Yanez believes these issues could be improved through broader social changes.
“These people are really desperate and trying to get a few cents from those cans,” Yanez said. “So they’re not going to go and oh, carefully open recycling bag to get out the cans.” Yanez recommends putting the cans in a separate bag, as one simple solution to prevent trash from spilling out onto sidewalks.
But Yanez believes everyone can help make a difference, no matter how small.
“We have a lot of bad things that happen,” she said. “But we can also make a little difference in our community.”
