After a busy summer season, a team of volunteers will descend on Innisfil Beach Park on Tuesday, armed with gloves and garbage bags.
The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup crew arrives at the lakeside pavilion in the park at 11 a.m., along with Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) staff from Georgian Downs prepared to spiff up the area.
All supplies will be supplied by OLG to the volunteers. Refreshments will also be provided for all volunteers.
The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited, is Canada’s largest direct action environmental program.
Since it was created in 1994, more than 300,000 individuals across Canada have come out to help keep rivers, lakes and oceans healthy for the communities and wildlife that depend on them.
In 2002, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup emerged as a national program, providing all Canadians the opportunity to make a difference in their local communities. Cleanups started appearing in every province and territory, and by 2003, more than 20,000 volunteers were taking part.
Public support and interest in the program also grew as Canadians gradually became more aware of the harmful effects of shoreline litter on both fragile aquatic ecosystems and people.
Shoreline litter is a threat to aquatic life and ecosystems because litter can leach harmful chemicals into the water, accidentally be eaten by wildlife and entangle aquatic animals such as otters, turtles and birds.
Litter travels from hundreds of miles inland. For example, a plastic sandwich bag that blows off a picnic table inland can be washed down a storm drain, river, lake or stream, and be eaten by or entangle an aquatic animal.
The most common items collected in the 2015 clean up across the country are:
- Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters - 310,994
- Food Wrappers - 81,971
- Bottle Caps (Plastic) - 32,892
- Beverage Bottles (Plastic, 2 litres or less) - 32,405
- Beverage Cans - 25,867
- Straws/stir sticks - 23,528
- Other Plastic Bags - 22,012
- Bottle Caps (Metal) - 21,871
- Other Plastic Foam Packaging - 19,634
- Grocery Bags (Plastic) - 18,189
To register for the Innisfil clean up, visit the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup website.
