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Little
Lake site of Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup On Sept. 18 at 10 a.m., cleaning up the shores of Little Lake will become a priority for a number of volunteers. Andrew Laing hopes that number will hover around 300. Andrew is organizing the effort in tandem with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. It, in turn, works in tandem with the International Coastal Cleanup. In the past 17 years, more than 4.5 million volunteers from 120 countries, including Canada, have participated in the annual drive for cleaner shores around the world. Little Lake was one of three sites in Peterborough that was identified, says Andrew. "We decided to choose Little Lake this year on the basis of visibility, public use, volunteer resources and convenience," he explains. Andrew notes the clean-up effort is now one of Canada's largest annual environmental direct action programs. The local cleanup of the lake has also been taken on by other groups in the past, too, he notes. "There is a local scuba diving group that has also operated an annual cleanup of Little Lake with a focus on underwater garbage." Andrew says one of the primary objectives of the program is education and awareness to influence positive change in attitudes about litter and aquatic garbage. "Removal of trash and garbage help restore shoreline habitats and instil a sense of conservation. Garbage has negative impacts in many ways," he says. These include the fact that plastic garbage can entangle or injure wildlife and some animals can't distinguish food items from litter. He also notes people and pets can be injured from broken glass or discarded syringes and litter containing batteries and any chemical or cleaning containers can contaminate drinking water. Andrew says the cleanup is a great way for communities to come together, too. "Any initiatives that provide a focus for like-minded individuals to participate in a worthwhile cause are positive for communities," he says. "Other features about this cleanup I consider to be positive are input and support from partners such as the World Wildlife Fund (Canada), Ocean Conservancy, Waste Management of Canada and Encorp Pacific. The cleanup will involve data collection which provides information for future analysis which has inherent value for future work." Volunteers can simply drop by on the day of the event and help with the cleanup. For more information about the cleanups across Canada click here. |
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