With less to do in lockdown some Nova Scotians are cleaning up their communities and they're also throwing down the challenge for others to pick up the litter too.

Tera Camus describes herself as a one-woman cleanup crew these days.

She's been alongside busy roads and highways during this latest Nova Scotia lockdown picking up trash while she gets out of the house.

"Cooped up at home and going a little crazy," Camus said. "The few times that I am out and about, I do see the garbage -- and it's driving me crazier."

From dirty mattresses, to the typical things people toss aside, she says it's pretty bad in some places.

"Fast-food takeout, plastic of all kinds, wood -- and lots of car parts," Camus said.

Harry Ullock is part of the Nova Scotia One Garbage Bag Challenge.

"It's disheartening in one way, because of the amount of litter that people have thrown out," Ullock said.

The Nova Scotia One Garbage Bag Challenge on social media started by his son Adam, during last year's lockdown. It's grown on Facebook to more than two thousand members.

People post pictures of their community cleanups all over the province.

At last count, they had filled more than twelve thousand garbage bags.

"It's taking off again -- and it should, because a) it helps the environment and b) it gives you physical activity, rather than sit home," Ullock said.

In the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, a big community cleanup called the Great Cape Breton Cleanup was supposed to go ahead on May 1, a week ago Saturday, but, that was cancelled - like so many other things - because of COVID-19.

"Get out in the fresh air; pick up things that you wouldn't imagine you would find," Ullock says. "It's made a lot of places much cleaner."

For now, Camus says knowing she's making a difference in her community is keeping her going and she's challenging others to pick up too - even if it's just a bagful.

"It doesn't take a long time to just pick up one bag of garbage off the side of the road," Camus said. "Probably a half hour."