Students clean up beaches

Keeping our beaches beautiful is not easy.

With endless kilometres of sandy shore and hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, some litter is inevitable.

Students in Bruce County are doing their part to protect the environment and maintain the beauty of the shoreline.

The Planeteers environmental group from Saugeen District Secondary School in Port Elgin and students at Peninsula Shores District School in Wiarton undertake beach clean-ups and work to educate elected officials and the media about the importance of smoke-free beaches.

Cigarettes on our beaches are a hazard.

Completed by the students, the Coast Watchers Beach Litter Report Card identifies the kinds of products collected during clean-ups on Port Elgin and Sauble beaches in the summer of 2013. From 11 garbage bags, students recorded 1,236 items of cigarette butts and packaging; 216 food wrappers; and 57 items of various plastics.

"I have seen a definite improvement from when I was younger." says William Boulter, a Grade 10 student at Peninsula Shores District School.

The Planeteers point out that beyond being a piece of litter that will take years to decompose, a cigarette butt thrown carelessly onto the sand immediately becomes a hazard to children, animals (particularly birds) and our Lake Huron water source. Students from both schools have spoken to their local municipal councils urging them to ban smoking on local beaches.

To date, no final decisions have been made to enact smoke-free bylaws or policies.