Clear Lake Shoreline Cleanup 2011
Local Students Clean up Clear Lake
Clear Lake Cleanup Nets Quarter Tonne of Garbage
On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, students and teachers joined staff from Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP) to pick up more than 275 kg of garbage from the shoreline as part of the second annual Clear Lake Cleanup. This initiative was a joint effort between RMNP and the schools to make a difference for the environment on a local level. In all, more than 200 participants from Erickson Collegiate, Erickson Elementary and Onanole Elementary Schools worked to tidy up after a summer that saw 300,000 visitors come to the park.
More than 200 students and teachers from Erickson Collegiate, Erickson Elementary and Onanole Elementary Schools joined Riding Mountain National Park staff on Wednesday, Sept. 21, to clean up the shoreline of Clear Lake. More than 275 kg of garbage was collected. The Clear Lake Cleanup was one of more than 1200 cleanups held across the country as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup © Parks Canada
Teams of students and staff scoured the shoreline from Camp Wannakumbac, to the Boat Cove, the Main Beach, past the golf course and the North Shore, then on to the Aspen picnic area. This year twice as many students participated and produced twice the results of last year’s cleanup. A wide variety of garbage and recyclables was collected. Some of the more interesting finds included a plastic children’s slide, a CD case full of CDs, an unopened bottle of liquor, fireworks, and many pairs of underwear (mostly men’s – fellas, what’s up with that?!).
The objective of the cleanup was not simply to remove the mess from the lake. Park management wants to learn from the litter. By studying what is found and where it comes from, improvements can be made to the availability of garbage and recycling facilities, and about how best to educate the public about protecting the environment.
“These students can be very proud in that they have made a difference,” commented Paul Tarleton, the Resource Conservation Manager for RMNP. “With the many thousands of visitors who come to enjoy the park, I guess we have to expect a few lapses in judgment. Sometimes, although it may be hard to believe, people don't always understand the consequences of their actions - the fox that can't breathe or eat because it has a chip bag stuck on its head, the bear that's in the same condition because it has its head in a jar, the fish that dies because it has ingested a couple of cigarette butts, the gull that is slowly starving because it has a plastic beer can holder wrapped around its neck.”
Cleanup teams sorted and recorded each item that was picked up into several categories including food packaging, cigarette related trash, clothing, and boating and fishing related items. The data will be compiled and analyzed both in RMNP and at the national level as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, a research and restoration initiative that takes place every year at this time. Last year, across the country, more than 98,000 km of garbage was removed from 1200 sites and 2200 km of shoreline by 98,000 participants.
Students Making a Difference (SMAD)
“We were looking for a local project that would have a global impact. The Clear Lake Cleanup was perfect,” explained Rebecca Kingdon vice-president of Students Making a Difference (SMAD). “Young people want to help and we want to make a difference.”
A group of grade 11 and 12 students from Erickson Collegiate combs the shoreline looking for trash that has washed ashore. Students from three local schools took part in the second Clear Lake Cleanup which is one of many events help across the country as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. The garbage was sorted and weighed and the data will be used to improve access to garbage and recycling facilities in the park © Parks Canada
Always looking for opportunities to take a more active role in their community, SMAD took on a leadership role to help plan and publicize the Clear Lake Cleanup. They organized the teams from their school, put up posters, planned the information session prior to the cleanup, and participated in the data collection at the weigh in station. They will also be helping to present the results of the cleanup to their school once the data has been analyzed.
“After last year’s involvement in the Clear Lake Cleanup by the junior high students, our SMAD organization and staff were more than willing to make this a whole school event,” said Erickson Collegiate Principal Barry Lee. “It was a fantastic opportunity for our school to be involved with the RMNP community and participate in a very meaningful initiative that contributes to local and national research.”
Parks Canada actively seeks input from its partners and stakeholders, including youth, and believes that young people have many innovative ideas about how to protect this country’s national parks. Events like the Clear Lake Cleanup give Parks Canada another avenue to find out what is important to Canadian students and to work more closely with them on matters that they care about.
“It’s inspiring to see youth take an active role in protecting Clear Lake,” said Richard Dupuis, Visitor Experience Manager for RMNP. “They have a strong environmental ethic and they don’t hesitate to act on it.”
For more information about the Clear Lake Cleanup and the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, visit www.shorelinecleanup.ca.