Nunavut’s shorelines rank among Canada’s least littered

On June 17, the Government of Nunavut hosted the 2011 Iqaluit community spring clean-up to get rid of the trash that piled up during the winter. A second clean-up is scheduled along Iqaluit Beach on Sept. 17 at 12:30 p.m.. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut’s shorelines may be among the most cleanest in the country, but community shorelines across the territory are notorious for being littered with waste.

And they’re not alone.

A national conservation effort called the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup visited shorelines across the country in 2010 and released a list of the most – and least – littered shorelines in the country on Aug. 17.

Nunavut’s most littered shoreline? A 2010 clean-up effort in Stanners Harbour in Taloyoak revealed roughly 130 kilograms of litter per kilometre.

And the territory’s cleanest shoreline wasn’t far behind – 80 kilograms of waste per km were found in on Pond Inlet’s Mittimatalik beach.

But compare that to the most littered shoreline in the country along Kingston, Ont.’s Sydenham Lake, where volunteers found 5,000 kg per km last year.

Canada’s least littered shoreline is a stretch of Running Creek in a Wallaceburg, Ont. conservation area, where .10 kg per km was found.

Now the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up is encouraging community members to get out and clean up shorelines along their local ocean fronts, rivers and lakes.

The organization, led by the Vancouver Aquarium, the World Wildlife Foundation and Loblaws Ltd. are hoping community members will coordinate a number of clean-up events from Sept. 17 to 25.

“What a great difference the cleanups can make to our rivers, lakes and oceans — the amount of litter that was removed is remarkable and, if neglected, could have serious impacts on the health of our waters,” said Tony Mass, a director with WWF’s Freshwater Program, in a release.

Visit www.shorelinecleanup.ca and enter your postal code to see when your community’s clean-up is scheduled. If there is no event scheduled, you can register to coordinate a clean-up along one of your local shorelines.

In Iqaluit, a clean-up is scheduled along Iqaluit Beach on Sept. 17 at 12:30 p.m., but coordinators are still needed for clean-ups along Tasilik Lake and Airport creek.