This year’s shoreline clean-up was the largest yet carried out by the Interact Club of South Delta Secondary and the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen.
This article originally appeared in the Delta Optimist, October 25, 2017
On a cold and windy Saturday morning earlier this month, 18 SDSS students, along with seven Tsawwassen Rotarians, set out onto the shores of Boundary Bay to collect trash and recyclables. They managed to collect eight large bags of trash, along with two bags of recycling.
Removing garbage from these areas ensures the health of birds and other wildlife, allows the marsh grasses and wildflowers to continue to flourish, and helps to keep Boundary Bay waters clean.
Among the refuse collected were many beverage cans and plastic bottles, a large amount of plastic shell casings, a tire, cigarette butts and cigar tips, fast food and beverage containers, plastic straws, plastic bags, plastic beach toys, along with several items that had likely fallen off boats and washed ashore. These included plastic hangers, a solar shower, plastic food containers and bins.
The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up is an initiative of the World Wildlife Fund and, locally, the Vancouver Aquarium. Through the efforts of many community leaders, litter is removed from shorelines coast to coast in order to limit its devastating consequences for wildlife. Animals often mistake litter for food and can die from starvation after eating many small pieces of plastic. They can also become entangled in rope, string or nets. These pieces of trash can also transport invasive species or introduce dangerous toxins into an ecosystem.
This is the sixth year these two groups have joined forces to clean local shorelines.