Skip to content

Couple keeps South Surrey neighbourhood clean

Bob Cockerill, 83, and his wife Ev, 80, pick up garbage on their morning walks
11058725_web1_180321-PAN-GarbageWalk_1
Aaron Hinks photo Bob and Ev Cockerill pick up garbage on their morning walk Saturday around their South Surrey neighbourhood.

Even the smallest piece of litter doesn’t escape the watchful eyes of the Cockerills.

“You missed one over there,” Ev Cockerill points out to her husband Bob during a walk Saturday morning.

Armed with a trash picker, it’s Bob’s job to track down the litter while Ev holds open a garbage bag. And nearly every day for at least 15 years, this is how their morning has started.

“And the things we have found…” Ev said, while walking towards the corner of 17 Avenue and 152 Street.

The couple have found a purse, credit cards and bank cards, and even stumbled upon a trove of stolen power tools.

“Just at the edge of a bush. We looked at it and thought, we can’t carry that anywhere,” Ev explained of the tools.

“Long story short, the (RCMP) found a truck out in Abbotsford, a stolen truck. I guess it ended up being that all of this stuff was out of that truck.”

The tools were returned to their rightful owner, Ev noted.

On two separate occasions, the Cockerills found a mound of clothing. Ev said they packaged up the articles, took the pile home and washed it before donating it to the Salvation Army.

Another time, Bob said, they found a pile of brand-new shoes.

“In pairs, the pile must have been four feet high,” Ev said. “We took it all to the Salvation Army. Give them the deal of the day.”

Last Saturday, it took the couple about 20 minutes to fill a grocery bag with garbage found on the sidewalk, gutters and boulevards. Bob said it’s an improvement – they used to easily fill two grocery bags with garbage on their daily walk.

“People are catching on, they’re getting better,” he told Peace Arch News.

They have started making a reputation for themselves in the area. Neighbours stop to chit-chat, and people have been thanking them for their good deed.

Ev explained an interaction she had with one of the friendly faces in the neighbourhood. The man has adopted the Cockerill way.

“This one guy said, ‘I’m mad at you, too… you know what, you got me doing that down on Marine Drive now… I can’t go for my walk anymore without taking my bag.’”

Ev said the dirtiest stretch of sidewalk along their morning route is at the corner of 17 Avenue and 152 Street, near the bus stop.

“You wouldn’t believe the garbage along here, and the bloody bins are right there,” she said, pointing to the bin.

The pair moved to Surrey from Manitoba in 1965.

“We are just clean people,” Ev said. “We always pick up garbage, and we thought, why not just take a bag with us?”

At the end of their walk Saturday – a two-block walk – they had one grocery bag full of trash.

“That’s why it’s nice and clean, see?” Ev said.



About the Author: Aaron Hinks

Read more