Cleaning lakes takes a little elbow grease

Dave Lazzarino
The Valley Echo
August 26, 2009

Keeping our waterways clean is a constant desire for most lake users. Nevertheless, litter does build up and a yearly cleaning is needed. And it comes in the form of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup (GCSC).

The event began in 1994 with a small group cleaning up some of Vancouver's shores. It has since grown to cover the entire country.

Around the same time, people in the Columbia Valley were doing the same thing in this area and in 2003 they decided to join forces with the GCSC. Though the job is the same, the benefits are in documenting what is actually found.

Participants in the GCSC don't just pick up the garbage, they record it to keep track of the biggest contingent of litter products.

"Cigarette butts are repetitively the number one item from year to year," said Jean Fong, communications co-ordinator for the GCSC. According to their website, more than 320,000 of the used cigarette filters were picked up on Canadian shorelines during last year's event. Other culprits have included food wrappers, plastic bags and beverage cans.

Although it isn't the most glamourous sounding day on the lake, organizers say it can be fun to see what can be found.

"You always find some weird things," said Heather Leschied with a laugh.

Some of the more bizarre items that have been found in past cleanups have been a wedding dress and a toilet seat nailed to a patio chair.

Heather Leschied of the Lake Windermere Project has been an area organizer before and is again this year. She said she has seen a lot of support from organizations like the Regional District of East Kootenay who have offered free dumping of the refuse in RDEK landfills, as well as the District of Invermere who has provided trucks for hauling the garbage away.

There is still time for people to register and also an area near Canal Flats that is in need of an organizer. Though Leschied said it is a bit of work to organize, the GCSC provides a lot of supplies and support to all those involved, including gloves and a huge resource of information about how to best deal with rubbish.

To participate or to volunteer to organize an event, either contact Heather Leschied at 250-341-6898 or go online to www.vanaqua.org/cleanup and search for a cleanup near you.