Category: Ocean Pollution & Plastics

By Rachel Schoeler, Shoreline Cleanup volunteer, swimmable water advocate and avid open water swimmer  Styrofoam monsters the size of grown adults, never-ending pits of plastic bottles and mazes of rope that will make your head spin. This describes a shoreline cleanup I recently attended along the West Coast Trail in Pacific Rim National Park with … Continued

On my daily commute through the city I cycle past single use coffee cups, cigarette butts, straws, countless examples of food packaging, and once, even a discarded toaster oven — more litter than I have hands to carry. It can be easy to feel helpless in the face of litter but, there are much better solutions … Continued

This year, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup welcomes school groups to not only clean their local shorelines but their schoolyards too. Join classrooms across Canada from April 15-22 for Schoolyard Cleanup Week. You may wonder how schoolyards are connected to Canadian shorelines. All waterways are connected and we invite you to clean any place where … Continued

Registration is now open for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited. Each year, thousands of Canadians pitch in to keep our waterways free of litter and debris. Behind each clean is a volunteer Site Coordinator who organizes and leads a cleanup at their local waterway and empowers community members to make a … Continued

My plastic-free challenge may have come to an end, but I won’t be giving up my reduced-waste lifestyle. After a year of exploring alternatives to every day, single-use plastic products and packaging, I still came away with some plastic waste. So, will I continue to try to reduce my plastic consumption? Absolutely! This challenge not only helped me take … Continued

Gifts, decorations, food, many things that make the holiday season merry and bright seem to be packaged in or made of plastic. This time of year may seem the most difficult to go plastic free, fortunately there are actions that cut down on our plastic use during the holidays. Plastic has become a big part … Continued

Eleven months ago I decided to challenge myself to live a plastic-free year. Over this time, I have gradually switched many single use plastic items in my home to plastic-free alternatives, from the bathroom to the kitchen, to the items I take to-go. I did end up generating some plastic waste as I started learning … Continued

There is no “litter season.” Along a popular seawall, coffee cups are just as likely to be tossed away in November as they are in August. Folks who illegally dump garbage in riverbeds will do so all year round. Styrofoam is even more likely to wash ashore during winter storms than in summer. So why … Continued

Shoreline cleanups take place anywhere that land connects to water, in every province and territory across Canada, including the Arctic. The Arctic is home to a large part of Canada’s coastline and as the summer thaw starts, litter can often be found washed on up the shore. Long-time site coordinator and principal of Nestilik Public … Continued

Social responsibility is an increasingly hot topic for Canadian companies. Many corporate leaders are looking for ways to engage their employees in a meaningful way, to encourage them to work together as a team, to contribute to their local community, and to create lasting environmental change. The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies … Continued