On Sept. 25, 28 hard-working volunteers participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup at the Carter Foreshore Park and on South Dyke Road from Gifford Street to Boundary Road in Queensborough.
They collected almost 100 kilograms of refuse.
"Cleanups can be difficult because success can really feel like defeat for the participants," said site coordinator Karla Olson. "And every person experienced it. When they returned to the gathering area with their bag of collected garbage, they all had big smiles on their faces until the moment they saw the amount of garbage that others had also collected.
"It was a difficult moment to witness this loss of joy. But no one person could have achieved what we did that day. Seeing the achievement of the group effort and realizing that people can change things makes all the difference."
Even though downpours occurred just before and after the cleanup, the rain held off during the actual cleanup.
After two hours of collection, the list of items collected was eclectic.
"They found a set of house keys still attached to a backpack, one chair, lots of caution tape, a door knob, three knickknack statues, a bucket full of hardened cement, a nail clipper, paint cans and lots of garbage," said Olson. "We collected 93 plastic bags, 40 glass beverage bottles, 66 pop cans, 91 food wrappers, four bleach containers, 17 buoys, two fishing lines, eight oil bottles, two tires, 50 large pieces of Styrofoam and the number one littered item: 157 cigarette butts found concentrated around the lovely sitting and viewing areas that the city recently put in."
Collecting approximately 95 kilograms of litter was a bitter sweet moment for participants.
"I was surprised and disappointed to see how much garbage we actually found," said Coun. Jonathan Cote. "We saw everything from paint cans to furniture. Our riverfront is a sensitive environment, and we cannot allow it to become a dumping site."
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