If you started to walk the length of Canada’s coastlines from the Strait of Juan du Fuca on the West Coast to the Bay of Fundy on the east coast, covering 20 kilometres a day, you would complete your journey in a little less than 33 years.  That's a remarkably long time to cover the whole of Canada’s coastlines, especially compared to how long it takes to cross the country on foot. At 5,000 kilometres from coast to coast, you could walk across Canada in a little under a year. Then again, when you consider how many fjords, bays, inlets, and ice packs you’d have to cover along our country’s coastlines, 33 years sounds a little more believable. Now consider the time and effort it would take to keep these coastlines clean from human litter.

 

From September 18th to 26th, Canadians across the country will organize cleanups along Canada’s ocean, lake and river shorelines in what is known as the Great Canadian Cleanup.  Last year during the cleanup, organizers covered 2,457 km and picked up a total of 160,914 kg of trash.

 

Cigarettes take the cake as the number one item picked up by organizers with over 367,010 found on our country’s shores. Food wrappers, plastic bags, bottles and dishes follow as the next most popular litter items on the list.

As a program, the shoreline cleanup originated in Vancouver in 1994. Over the last 16 years, it’s grown to become national in scope. Over 1,000 different clean-up sites have been registered across the country. Another 600 sites and it'll smash last year’s record-breaker of over 1,500 sites.

 

You can join a cleanup or organize one yourself. Click here to read more about the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

 

It’s time to clean house, wilderness-style.