Volunteers clean up Queens County beaches

The TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is one of the largest conservation initiatives in Canada. What started 15 years ago as a small beach cleanup by four Vancouver Aquarium employees has grown into the second largest clean up program in the world (the U.S. is in first place – for now). Last year, over 52,000 Canadians registered to clean up 1,240 river, lakefront and coastal shorelines; over 87,000 kilograms of harmful litter was removed. Within Nova Scotia in 2007, a total of 1,346 volunteers helped to clean up 45 shoreline sites.

The local Carters Beach clean up was initiated three years ago by Robert Ross and his wife, Mary Ediger, then recent new residents from B.C. “Each year, we’ve had more help with the clean up,” stated Cleanup Site Coordinator Robert Ross, “and this year we noticed a substantial decrease in the amount of beach side litter that was found. This is most likely due to a number of factors. Firstly the Region of Queens installed a small refuse container in the parking lot area of Carters Beach earlier this year at the request of local residents. The public, beach visitors and even sail-boaters make good use of the small refuse receptacle. As a result, there is less waste to accumulate on the beach. In addition, there are faithful local resident beach walkers such as Louise and Bob Swain who daily pick up beach litter. And one can only hope that most people are becoming more aware of the need to be responsible and pick up their litter while visiting the beach area.

“That is the good news. The bad news is that the parking lot area of Carters Beach still has lots of cigarette butts and the like, and the adjacent wooded area is becoming a large bathroom. Clearly with the Province moving forward with ownership of the Carters Beach lands, a comprehensive public use and amenities review needs to be undertaken in conjunction with a resource management planning process for the subject area.

“And back to the good news, Carters Beach remains one of the most desired local beaches to take a stroll and with the continued help of local residents under the Shoreline Cleanup program, the will is there to ensure Carters Beach continues to be special.”