Summer brings people to local beaches and creeks - and sometimes they leave behind a mess.
Thankfully, somebody is cleaning it up.
The Vancouver Aquarium is once again organizing the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up to rid shorelines of litter, cigarette butts and other trash that can be harmful to marine wildlife.
The event takes place across the country from Sept. 17 to 25 but the Port Moody Ecological Society (PMES) is organizing a clean-up for Saturday, Sept. 10.
PMES president Sandra Niven said she hopes many people come out to clean up local creeks and trails and help raise awareness of the importance of local ecosystems.
"We're expecting more people this year," said Niven, adding that she would like to see enough volunteers to clean up all the shoreline and creeks around Port Moody inlet.
Small pieces of trash, such as cigarette butts, can even end up in the stomach of a fish, she said.
"We want to bring awareness to people that use the pathways around here that when you throw your trash in the gutter, it ends up in the creek."
People wishing to participate can register online at shorelinecleanup.ca or they can simply show up individually or in teams at the Noons Creek Hatchery beside the Port Moody recreation complex. The clean-up will run from 9 to 11 a.m. and trash bags and gloves will be provided.
Garbage that is collected will be tallied and posted on the PMES website. National figures are also available and, last year, for example, volunteers picked up 98,000 kg of trash from 2,235 km of shoreline nation-wide.
YELLOW FISH
PMES is also looking for people to participate in a storm-drain marking program. Families are encouraged to adopt a storm drain in front of their house and Niven or another volunteer will show up with rubber fish stickers that can be glued to the pavement to remind people not to dump oil or other contaminates down the storm drains.
"That water goes straight into Burrard Inlet. It's not sanitized and our kids play in that water. We want to keep the area pristine," said Niven, noting even one drop of oil can contaminate a million drops of water.
Adopting families are also asked to keep drains clear of debris to prevent garbage from dropping into the water.
PMES monitors water quality in six creeks in the area, one of a very few volunteer groups that do, and most of the time the water quality is good. Niven said her group wants to make sure it stays that way.
Visit www.noonscreek.org for more information on the storm drain marking program.
