Port Moody's creeks, trails and waterways may seem like pristine retreats next to a bustling suburb.
But on closer inspection, they're not so clean.
That's what 164 volunteers found Saturday when they scoured the area for litter as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up.
The national event, taking place in most regions this upcoming weekend, is an opportunity to rid the natural environment of human junk. For the Port Moody Ecological Society, which held ITS clean-up a week early, the endeavour was a painful reminder of what people will do to their parks.
Some 2,430 pieces of litter were picked up, filling 26 garbage bags in a few hours last Saturday. The junk weighed 213 kg and included the following, according to a press release:
dumping: a battery, 54 building materials, nine car parts, a 55-gallon drum and five tires;
smoking: 695 cigarettes/cigarette filters, five lighters, nine cigar tips, 62 pieces of tobacco packaging and wrappers;
medical/personal hygiene: three condoms, four diapers and three tampons;
general litter: 80 paper bags, 211 plastic bags, 41 balloons, 69 plastic beverage bottles, 161 glass beverage bottles, 210 drink boxes and cans, 99 caps and lids, 42 articles of clothing and shoes, 95 cooking/eating ware, 402 food wrappers/containers, 14 pull tabs, three six-pack holders, three shotgun shells/wadding, 78 straws, 21 toys;
boating/fishing: two bait containers, packaging, two buoys/floats, one crate, four pieces of fishing line, 17 pieces of plastic sheeting/tarps, 10 pieces of rope, 14 strapping bands.
The press release also noted several items of concern, including 54 pieces of construction material, 14 dog poop bags and a plastic bag of drugs.
On the good news front, materials related to fishing and boating were few and there were no syringes picked up.
MORE CLEAN-UP
Meanwhile, volunteers are needed for another clean-up of the area, organized by the Port Moody Power and Sail Squadron. Interested volunteers should meet this Saturday, Sept. 17 at 9:30 a.m. in the Inlet Park parking lot in Port Moody.
Organizer Sheryl Dawson would like to see groups of kids, such as soccer teams, to come out with a pail to clean-up smaller items while adults will be on hand to collect large dumped items, such as the car axle volunteers picked up last year.
"It's a great event for kids and we'll have hot chocolate and that kind of thing for them."
This is the second year the group has participated in the clean-up, and Dawson expects a lot of litter will be picked up on Saturday around the Port Moody inlet from about Rocky Point Park to Old Orchard Park. She said her group has a different area to cover than the Noons Creek hatchery volunteers who did their clean-up last week.
The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, a national event organized by the Vancouver Aquarium continues this Sept. 17-25. For more information or to take part, visit www.shorelinecleanup.ca.
