Did you know that in 2010 over 365,000 cigarettes & filters were found on Canadian shorelines? They were found alongside over 100,000 food wrappers and containers and close to 75,000 plastic bags. How do I know this? Because they were found during the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup of 2010.

I was recently contacted by Coca-Cola Canada informing me that the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup (GCSC) was coming up and that they are supporting this initiative by tapping into their network to spread the word to get people involved. Leading by example, hundreds of Coca-Cola employees will be showing up at shorelines across the nation to do their part. They asked if I might also help out by joining a local cleanup and by spreading the word to my readers to generate awareness and involvement. After reading a bit more via the links they sent to me, I couldn’t say no!

The GCSC is an initiative that started out as a small group of Vancouver Aquarium employees collecting data on the litter they removed from a local beach in 1994.  With the number of registrants having grown to over 10,000 in 2002, when it became a national program, the GCSC saw its most impactful year in 2010, with over 47,000 registrants and the WWF on board as a full partner.

What an amazing opportunity to do our part! There are cleanups scheduled across the country from September 17th – 25th, inclusive. There are MANY scheduled in various areas across Montreal, so chances are that anyone can find a cleanup close to home.

I began to think about some of the valuable lessons we could teach our children by participating:
(1) This is why we dispose of our waste appropriately in either recycling or trash bins.
(2) Look at what a difference we can make by showing up for a couple of hours to pitch in.
(3) This is what community is about: Coming together to take responsibility for keeping our community clean and safe.

I have signed up to participate in Shoreline Cleanup and I encourage you to do the same. Signing up is easy. Just click on the following link: http://shorelinecleanup.ca/en/search/cleanups and enter your postal code.  You will be given dates and times of cleanups that are taking place, just choose!

If you’d like to take it a step further- You can even choose to spearhead your own cleanup at a location that hasn’t been covered.

Once you’re on the Shoreline Cleanup site, you’ll have access to lots of interesting facts and info about the initiative.

This Sunday, September 18th, you can find me at the Pine Beach Cleanup at 11:30 AM.  I’ll be wearing my montrealmom.com ball cap, so if you’re there, please stop by and say hello!

I’m looking forward to seeing you there or hearing about the cleanup for which you registered.

Have you ever participated in Shoreline Cleanup?  I want to know how it was!  How did you feel after you did it?  I’d also love to hear from all of you who are thinking of, or planning to, attend this year.  Please leave a comment to let us all know.

Don’t forget to come back to the comments section to let us know how you and your family felt about the experience after having participated  this year.  Feel free to send in pics – I’d love to include them in a follow-up post.

Wishing you a purposeful day.  Hint: if you sign up…your day will already have become purposeful 😉

Tanya