International Coastal Cleanup
The first few hundred metres of Shawnigan Creek, as it outflows from the lake, got its annual "once over" not only from Shawnigan Lake School's Environment Club, but with the welcome and spirited additional help from the School's new Service Club. The School has been taking part in the International Coastal Cleanup for a number of years now and this stretch of the creek has certainly benefited. Some of the most abundant forms of litter collected this year included the "usual suspects"—plastic bags (94), food packaging (246), plastic and paper cups (169), recyclable beverage containers (97) and tobacco packaging (153). But the big "winner" (culprit) was once again the dreaded cigarette butt. Students diligently collected a whopping 746 of them! In the end, over 1600 pieces of litter were collected!
The most interesting find of the day—one lucky member of the E-Club found a folded $100 bill in the bushes between the creek and the road. Well, it's what I have always professed. It pays to be GREEN!
Rev. Holland and I would like to congratulate all those who participated. Well done!
– Scott Noble
Photos by Stephen Lane