The Beaver River Watershed Alliance took about a hundred and fifty kids from Cold Lake Middle School with them to Sandy Beach on Thursday to help clean up the shoreline. By all accounts it was a massive undertaking.
“There was a lot to clean up” says Education and Outreach Coordinator with the Alliance Chantelle Adams. “We ended up leaving with one full dump trailer load. I estimate that to be about 150 kilograms. Last year we did get double that. It is good news there’s less than last year, but there’s still a lot.”
A lot of the trash is left behind from what Adams describes as “random camping.” “We found a lot of glass, broken bottles, plastics, cups, even bags of garbage. People would pack up all their garbage, put it in a big and leave that there.” Such behaviour is even less excusable considering that there’s a dumpster at the entrance to the beach.
Adams will be taking a group of students from Notre Dame to help clean up Jessie Lake next week. “Jessie Lake does not compare to Sandy Beach though,” she says. “Jessie Lake is looking very good, very clean, especially this past year. We don’t expect as much work to be needed.”
“We love for people to be getting outside and enjoying the beautiful areas. But it’s always best to be very respectful of the ecosystem that you’re in. We want to care of it and let other people enjoy it.”