2010 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup a Success!

Toronto, O.N. and Vancouver, B.C. – Vancouver Aquarium and WWF-Canada are proud to announce that the 17th annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited, was a great success, with over 47,000 Canadians having registered to clean over 1,200 sites across Canada.

Over the week of September 18 to 26, volunteers removed plastic bags, glass bottles, cigarette butts and hundreds of other items that put our ecosystems and aquatic animals at risk. They also found unusual items, including a suitcase in Toronto, a safe full of documents in Ottawa, a lava lamp in Halifax, faux fur in Vancouver, and a bird bath in Montréal!

“Shoreline litter is an entirely preventable issue, which is why we’re so happy to have such a strong response from Canadians,” said Jill Dwyer, Manager, Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. “Their commitment to cleaning local shorelines and trying to prevent litter from happening has made a tremendous difference across the country. We hope to build on this year’s success in 2011 with even more sites and participants.”

“We’re thrilled that so many Canadians came out for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and got involved with caring for their local ecosystems,” said Christina Topp, Vice President, Communications and Marketing, WWF-Canada. “We hope that the cleanup has helped Canadians recognize the importance of our waterways, and the growing need to preserve our freshwater and ocean resources, a top priority for WWF-Canada.”

The 2010 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup was made possible by the generosity of presenting sponsor Loblaw Companies Limited, as well as national sponsors Molson Canada and Home Depot Foundation Canada. This program is part of Loblaw’s three-year, $3 million partnership with WWF-Canada to support public mobilization activities across Canada.

“Loblaw is proud to be the presenting sponsor of this year’s Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup,” said Bob Chant, vice president, Corporate Affairs, Loblaw Companies Limited. “Through the proceeds of our five cent charge on plastic shopping bag program Loblaw has been able to support programs such as the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup to help Canadians continue to minimize their environmental footprint through easy, eco-friendly actions.”

In 2009, approximately 161,000 kg of litter was removed from Canadian shorelines; this is the approximate weight of 358 adult male moose. Final results for the 2010 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited, will be released in November, after it has been submitted to the International Coastal Cleanup, the world’s only international item-by-item, location-by-location snapshot of marine debris. This information helps build a better foundation for solutions to the world’s aquatic litter problem.

Photographs from specific cleanups across Canada may be made available upon request.