Last week, Humber College participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, an event started by the Vancouver Aquarium in 2002. With a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) partnership in 2010, the event has grown bigger and more successful, now known as Canada’s largest conservation-based cleanup. To date, it has had 19,400 clean ups that have collected more than 1.2 million kg of trash across Canada’s shorelines.
-
- Humber Clean-up T-shirt
For the first time, the Humber community, led by the Humber Office of Sustainability, joined the cause, as they cleaned the grounds and shores of Colonel Samuel Smith Park on March 28. To help track the trash collected, the organizers provided participants with colour coded bags (yellow for plastic water bottles, red for waste and purple for recycling) and individual data cards. Indeed, this was a great way to bring the Humber students and staff together, create awareness around the trash we produce and also appreciate nature.
Did you know?
The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in
the world. Just behind the oil industry!
(Source: onegreenplanet.org)
Maryellen Hebb, a resident of the area, showed her appreciation of the college’s effort to preserve the beautiful park. Here she shares how important this is for us and the wildlife:
“This is a real birding park. It has had many rarities here…the biggest thing are the birds that are declining and that are in real trouble. You’ll be sorry when they all go because a lot of them are, what are called, aerial insectivores. In other words, they fly around and they eat things like mosquitoes and other bugs; and their numbers are all crashing. It’s really quite sad. The reason this is so special is not just because it has all sorts of habitat, but also because it’s right on the water and straight across the water is the US and the flyway. The birds use (the flyway) to eventually make their way up north. Now, some of them actually nest here, but a lot of them stop over here after flying all night in the dark and then spotting this fabulous place. Whether they’re looking for bushes, trees, water, banks of water or fields. This park offers them all of those things.”
Truly, the event was productive and successful with a collection of over 50 kg. of waste and 40 kg of recycling. But it doesn’t end here! Through Shorelinecleanup.ca, anyone interested can join or lead their own cleanup!
Looking for other ways to sustainability? Check out Humber’s eco-friendly projects: Enterprise Car Share and Dropbike!
