The Lake Huron Coastal Centre held a clean-up at the Port Elgin Main Beach last night to help clear out plastic and microplastics.
Alyssa Bourassa, a coastal stewardship technician at the centre, says the volunteer event is also a great chance to educate people on an issue they may be unaware of.
“A lot of people don’t even know that microplastics exist and it’s really important to get them off our beaches,” she says.
The Coastal Centre also works with OceanWise Shoreline Cleanup to collect data on beach pollution. In 2021, cigarette butts were the most popular pollutant by a wide margin.
According to OceanWise Shoreline Cleanup, volunteers have collected 14,836 kg of litter on along Canadian beaches this year.
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre has another shoreline clean-up scheduled for Goderich on September 24.
