About 300 eager do-gooders spread out along Iona Beach last Saturday to help clean up its shoreline for the annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
This year also celebrated the event's 20th anniversary, which sees cities across Canada get together to clean up the country's shorelines for a week every September.
"It was really a fantastic day," said Jill Dwyer, the cleanup's program manager. "There was a diverse group of people from young kids to teams from Vancouver Airport Authority (VAA) and the Superstore. Some people had just heard about it on the day of and stopped by to help out."
The crew collected 474 kilograms of waste from the shores of Iona Beach on Saturday, which seemed like more litter than previous years, according to Dwyer.
The beach was also chosen as one of the special locations across Canada to celebrate the 20th anniversary with cake, games and prizes, as well as remarks by Dwyer, Rob Holt, district manager of Western Canada, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Anne Murray, vice president, community and environmental affairs, VAA, and Minister of Environment Mary Polak.
Some of the waste pulled of the shores included boat pieces such as steps leading to the cabin, golf tees, a propeller and a fair amount of clothing.
The cleanup is a conservation initiative of the Vancouver Aquarium and the World Wildlife Fund.
Top 6 Culprits
— 2.5 centimetres and smaller: bits of Styrofoam, possibly from buoys and docks
— cigarette butts
— foam packaging
— construction materials
— plastic pieces
— food wrappers
