[PHOTOS] She picks up waste voluntarily to raise funds for the SPCA: here is “trashy lady”, the heroine of the shadow of the plateau-mont-royal

If you frequent the Plateau-Mont-Royal parks, you may have already seen “trashy lady” and its Rose brand. Behind this curious nickname hides a young woman who combines two causes that are close to his heart: the cleanliness of her adopted city and the living conditions of animals.

“It’s very therapeutic, for me, because I am a perfectionist and I can never solve this problem,” says Carolina Yanez. The 31 -year -old woman has been visiting Montreal parks for a few months, three evenings a week armed with her big clamps and her reusable bags.

Carolina Yanez, alias the trashy lady, spends three evenings a week to collect waste voluntarily, in order to raise funds for the SPCA.

Photo Félix Desjardins

The objective? Contribute to the sanitation of his adopted city and, by the very fact, to raise money for the company for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA), which crumbles under pressure after the period of the move. The newspaper accompanied it in one of its ecological pilgrimages to the La Fontaine park, by a perfect summer evening.

Kill two strokes

Carolina Yanez, alias the trashy lady, spends three evenings a week to collect waste voluntarily, in order to raise funds for the SPCA. Credit: Félix Desjardins

Photo Félix Desjardins

Originally from Ecuador, Carolina Yanez immigrated to Montreal at 17 to study in Polytechnique Montréal. Inhabited by the desire to help her neighbor since childhood, she found, some 15 years later, an effective remedy against the seasonal depressions she faces.

“I am a person who had trouble going out,” she says. But when I go out to pick up waste, it helps me from a moral point of view, because it forces me to leave my home and go to the park. ”

On average, it collects more than 300 waste per journey, which it sorts in three bags (compost, trash, recycling) and it throws in the appropriate bins in the bins of the condos complex where it resides. Toothbrushes, clothes and even cash: an impressive diversity of waste pollutes Montreal parks.

Carolina Yanez, alias the trashy lady, spends three evenings a week to collect waste voluntarily, in order to raise funds for the SPCA. Credit: Félix Desjardins

Photo Félix Desjardins

Motivated by her employer and her friends, she launched an Instagram account in early July where she documents her journeys and encourages her subscribers to contribute to her funding campaign. She had already exceeded the $ 3000 milestone on Wednesday in the middle of the day.

Photo Félix Desjardins

Remedy unhealthiness

Carolina Yanez, alias the trashy lady, spends three evenings a week to collect waste voluntarily, in order to raise funds for the SPCA. Credit: Félix Desjardins

Photo Félix Desjardins

Certain corners of Montreal have been recognized for their unsanitary conditions for several years and for “trashy lady”, concrete solutions exist.

“I do not believe that people are ill-intentioned, but there is a side of personal responsibility,” she believes. For example, if a trash can be full, people play Jenga [au lieu de trouver une autre poubelle].»

Photo Félix Desjardins

It also proposes to strengthen prohibitions on single -use plastic. In a tour de parc, she had picked up five packages of straws and countless bottle caps.

“It would also help if everyone had bins in which to put their waste, because animals can easily tear the bags,” she adds.

A temporary balm

Carolina Yanez, alias the trashy lady, spends three evenings a week to collect waste voluntarily, in order to raise funds for the SPCA. She also publishes videos on her Instagram account in order to convince other citizens to get her hand. Credit: Félix Desjardins

Photo Félix Desjardins

If her approach may seem naive for some passers -by who stare at her, Carolina Yanez, for her part, is convinced of the relevance of small citizen gestures.

“It is not because you pick up waste for a day that there will not be the next day. But in the meantime, you don’t know how many people will be able to enjoy Montreal more thanks to your gesture. ”

• To contribute to the Carolina YANNEZ fundraising campaign, click ici.