Every year thousands of Canadians come together and help clean up the dirty shores of our country. After a long summer exhausted with large crowds at beaches and parks, the shores are bound to be dirty. From September 15-23 it’s National Cleanup Week, so if you have the time to lend a helping hand, it will surely be appreciated.
The whole project started in 1994 when a group of employees and volunteers from the Vancouver Aquarium decided to clean up a beach in Stanley Park to help keep the shorelines of Vancouver clean. Remember, Greenpeace was also founded in Vancouver! Their actions quickly blossomed into a national program. From 20,000 volunteers in 2003 to just over 56,000 last year. There’s no doubt this number will continue to grow this year.
Last year in Vancouver there were 26,194 volunteers who helped clean 1,128 km of shorelines at over 700 different sites. Together they cleaned up over 66,000 kg of garbage. The most popular items, unfortunately, were: Cigarettes(178,217), Food Wrappers(47,148), Plastic Bags(26,298), and Lids(21,627). It’s a shame that so much garbage is left behind by people, but it is also great that thousands of volunteers step up and make a great contribution to society like this.
Their hard work and dedication is much appreciated.
Some notable sites that are hosting cleanups: False Creek, English Bay, and White Rock Beach.
National Cleanup Week is September 15-23, click here for location details and information on how to get involved.
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