Program description
The mission of the My clean beach program is to encourage citizens to organize shoreline cleanups and to get them involved in early detection of riparian problems. The program provides tools that will enable you to organize a safe cleanup and identify the riparian issues affecting your site.
The tools also include information on riparian habitats and their importance to man. You can now easily get involved in protecting and restoring a shoreline dear to you. You can now get involve easily in the protection of a shoreline that is dear to you.
How to participate in the program?
We are now looking for a large number of groups that are ready to use the toolkit and organise a cleanup during summer 2009. To help you, we will send you a printed toolkit, bags and gloves.
To learn more and subscribe to the program, please visit the official website :
Why is it important to clean shorelines
A cleanup is a way for you to:
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Have a direct, positive impact on the environment;
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Participate in a group activity;
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Mingle with people having a common interest in environmental protection;
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Participate in monitoring shoreline problems in Québec;
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Learn about riparian habitats, their fauna and flora, their problems and possible solutions;
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Improve water quality;
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Improve the aesthetics of the cleaned site;
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Reduce negative human impacts on wildlife by reducing the risk of injury and death due to debris;
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Favour productive angling by reducing the impact of debris on sport fish;
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Increase the pleasure of swimming, fishing, wildlife watching and plant observation; and
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Live in a healthy environment!
In short, a cleanup is a great opportunity for schools, environmental groups and concerned citizens to get involved in an activity having a direct, positive impact on the environment. And let’s not forget that this positive impact extends beyond the site cleaned since the debris collected will not pose a problem elsewhere. It is also important to remove debris from the water because it causes problems for the fauna and flora. Animals get entangled in it or eat it, which may cause injury or even death. Moreover, several types of debris break down and release chemicals that negatively affect the entire ecosystem.
Results for the 2009 season
This year, around 80 French tool kits and 25 English tool kits have been distributed. To this, we must add 900 gloves, 250 trash bags and 100 recycling bags. In all, there have been 22 clean-ups that have been part of the program "My clean beach" this year. We are evaluating that around 30 km of shoreline have been cleaned by almost 600 volunteers. Together they have collected no less than 20 m3 of trash that have tahnkfully not gone to the ocean. Most trashes were polystyrene, plastic bags and other plastic items as well as smoking related items. You can visit the web site to see the results in full.
Press releases:
- November 2008:
- March 2009:
Partners
This project is being carried out, in part, thanks to a contribution from the Community Interaction Program. Funding for this joint program, which is related to the St. Lawrence Plan for a Sustainable Development, is shared by Environment Canada and the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs du Québec. Fisheries and Oceans Canada also provided technical and financial support to the project.
The St. Lawrence Plan—For a Sustainable Development is managed by a Canada-Quebec cooperative agreement, whose objectives are to favour an integrated management of the St. Lawrence, to respect the environment within economic activities, to obtain the commitment of various community groups, and to achieve a clear, integrated and concerted governance of the St. Lawrence.
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