On September 17, thirty-one grade 6 and 7 Island Pacific School (IPS) students participated in the annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. They collected garbage along the roadsides and the beaches near the Cove. An afternoon’s work amounted to roughly fifteen garbage bags full of plastics, recyclables, cigarette butts and just plain scary items including old diapers and unidentifiable smelly pieces.
Science teacher Pam Matthews says that students were amazed by the amount of garbage they found but were most interested in tiny bits of styrofoam and plastic floating in the shallow waters along the beach.
“They noticed how these bits looked like jelly-fish or other small animals that bigger fish might like to eat,” says Matthews.
The cleanup started in Stanley Park in 1994 with a small team of volunteers. By 2013 the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup celebrated its 19th anniversary with more than 57,000 volunteers, and school-based programs in five provinces. Last year 99,000 kg of litter was removed from 3,035 km of shorelines across Canada. Today, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is recognized as one of the largest direct-action conservation programs.
Matthews says that having students participate in this action gives them the opportunity to connect the global issues of pollution in the ocean with the health of their local ecosystem.
“They can take action and be part of a positive change so they can look for other opportunities to make a difference. In the age of climate change, we need to look beyond gloomy outcomes and teach kids to be a part of the solution.”
