A coast-to-coast effort to clean up Nova Scotia’s shorelines saw hundreds of volunteers province-wide picking up trash Sunday.
Angela Riley with Scotian Shores, an Eastern Passage business dedicated to cleaning up the shorelines of Nova Scotia, organized the Mother’s Day event, which saw a local cleanup in each county.
“What a perfect time to show Mother Earth some love on Mother’s Day,” Riley said.
“It’s just a really good way for all of us to make a positive difference. We’re all around the province, but we’re cleaning in solidarity.”
Scotian Shores partnered with Halifax Boat Tours to take volunteers out to McNabs Island for a cleanup. About 25 volunteers spent Sunday afternoon cleaning up the shoreline.
“I’ve been doing a lot cleanup in the seaweed where you’re finding all the microplastics, bits of bottle caps, lobster bands, little bits of rope,” said volunteer Kimberley Wotherspoon, who’s been taking part in shore cleanups for years.
“It can be frustrating, but then it’s also showing people how much there is, and hopefully help stop people littering.”
Curbing litterbugs is something Halifax Regional Municipality is cracking down on, with the launch of its Litterati app last month. The app is intended to encourage Haligonians to engage in cleanup efforts in their communities. It also helps the municipality track litter trends.
“We’ve cleaned up almost 1,500 pieces of litter already and it’s only been two weeks since we got it,” said Kirk Symonds of Halifax Solid Waste. He added the goal is to pick up at least 20,000 pieces of trash within the year.
“The number one litter item we’re finding is drink cups,” said Symonds, adding that they account for roughly 70 per cent of all litter picked up around HRM.
“We’ll get a better geographic spread and we’ll be able to pinpoint litter hotspots in HRM,” which will help with enforcement, Symonds said.
The municipality has also taken a stronger stance against illegal dumping. Last fall, it increased the illegal dumping fines to $10,000 and ramped up enforcement.
Symonds said in all of 2020, enforcement officers issued just seven fines for dumping illegally. He said in the past six months of 2022 alone, they’ve issued nearly triple that, handing out 19 tickets so far this year.
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“The calls and the tickets that we’re handing out show that we’re definitely making a difference.”
Jenn Currie also wanted to make a difference by organizing a cleanup at Hartlen Point in Eastern Passage as part of the Scotian Shores initiative.
“I wanted some spotlight on Hartlen Point,” she told Global News, citing a proposed multi-million dollar military test facility development for the area.
“I’m part of a society that’s working toward making sure the environmental part is looked after if the build needs to go forward, and it’s just a very special spot for all wildlife.”
Currie brought her two-year-old son Hutton along for the cleanup. She said she’s happy to be spending Mother’s Day cleaning up one of her and her family’s favourite spots.
“I love it. I really want Hutton to see that doing a clean-up is a very good thing for the environment. It feels good,” Currie said.
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