Single-use food packaging litter on Canadian shorelines nearly doubles last year: report
The proportion of single-use food packaging litter found on shorelines across the country nearly doubled last year, according to a report from the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
The cleanup is a conservation partnership between Ocean Wise and World Wildlife Fund Canada.
“We suspect that change has to do with the implications of COVID-19,” explains Megan Leslie, the president and CEO at WWF. “More people are ordering takeout, consuming individually packaged foods.”
Every year, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup compiles a list called The Dirty Dozen – the most common litter found in Canada.
“For the first time ever in the shoreline cleanup’s 27 year history, volunteers reported find PPE (personal protective equipment), like masks and gloves,” Leslie explains.
Angela Riley is the founder of Scotian Shores - a business that collects litter from shorelines and turns it into products that helps to fund their cleanup operations.
Riley says she agrees with Leslie, adding people need to be more aware of how they’re disposing of their personal protective equipment.
“Masks, gloves, there’s definitely been a huge uptick since we started this,” explains Riley. “We’ve been finding a lot of them and that’s scary because those masks can get wrapped around a bird’s neck or something.”
Along with pandemic pollution, the president and CEO of WWF Canada says in Nova Scotia alone, the most common item picked-up is rope from fishing gear.
In Halifax, Kimberley Wotherspoon volunteers with the Clayton Park West Litter Prevention Committee to help keep communities and shorelines clean.
She encourages others to do the same.
“We’re trying right now, through the Clayton Park West Litter Prevention Committee, is trying to pick up some of the garbage before it does get to the ocean, before it blows there,” explains Wotherspoon. “You’re finding the classics washed up on the shore, along with stuff like rope.”
With many people heading to the beach this time of year, those dedicated to maintaining our pristine coastlines are offering some helpful tips.
“Pack out what you pack in, that’s a really great saying,” Riley says. “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos. I’m really hoping we can see more of that happening.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.