Organize a shoreline cleanup with your park group
If your park connects with water in any way then you’ve got a shoreline and you can take part in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Here’s what you can do to get your group engaged in adjacent creeks, streams, marshes and even storm drains.
Organizing a shoreline cleanup is an easy first event for a park group, and many long-term groups do cleanups every year. Your shoreline cleanup won’t just reduce pollution that reaches our lakes and oceans – it will also help you build relationships and foster community pride. Also, you’ll help raise awareness of the major sources of litter in your community by keeping a record of what you collect. By leading cleanups, you can be part of the solution. The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is a conservation partnership by Ocean Wise and WWF-Canada. They offer support to anyone who would like to coordinate a shoreline cleanup, including free promotional templates, guides, checklists, profile and national litter data tracking. Here’s there advice to park groups interested in leveraging people power to make our waters cleaner.
Before the shoreline cleanup
Here are the steps you need to put in place to lay the groundwork for a successful cleanup:
- Visit your cleanup location:
Is it suitable? Is it safe? Isthere enough litter (big and small)? - Contact the municipality:
Get permission to use the site and arrange waste disposal - Start your outreach:
Contact your city councillor, park supervisor, and any other community groups that work in the park to let them know you are interested in doing a park cleanup. Also, reach out to local businesses to see if they will provide food and drink like coffee, donuts or pizza and items for giveaways - Recruit volunteers:
Visit ShorelineCleanup.ca for posters, tips and other resources - Register your event:
Set a date and find a cleanup site at ShorelineCleanup.ca (you can also propose new cleanup locations in your community!)
- Visit your cleanup location:
During the shoreline cleanup
Here's some advice on what to do to make the event a success:
- Welcome your participants:
Have everyone form small teams, pick up supplies, review safety and how to record litter data. Don’t forget to give a pep talk! - Let’s cleanup!
Take photos and tweet @Cleanshorelines and @Park_People or instagram @shorelinecleanup and @parkppl. Tag photos #shorelinecleanup - Wrap up:
Weigh the trash, submit data through your mobile phone or collect any printed data cards - Thank your participants
- Welcome your participants:
After the shoreline cleanup
Since 1994, there have been 19,400 cleanups that have collected more than 1.2 million kg of trash across Canada’s shorelines.Shoreline Cleanup