Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup - Items Found Along The Shoreline

Items Found Along The Shoreline

A cleanup of any shoreline will reveal some unexpected discoveries. Over the years, participants have hauled out stolen cars, motorcycles, and hotel safes, as well as innumerable bikes, mattresses, couches and computer equipment. Some items suggest people have a romantic affiliation with the shoreline, and some items suggest that the romance is over (burned engagement ring boxes, engagement rings, torn-up letters, etc.).

All across the country, Canadians have found some unusual items along their shorelines. Some of the more unusual items include a hair curler, Celine Dion CDs, a rickshaw, messages in bottles, a rice cooker, a love letter, a whoopee cushion, false teeth, a disco ball, wedding veils, a wedding gown, wedding invitations and a groom's jacket, barbecues, toilets, patio furniture, auto parts, an Elvis suit, a canoe made out of duct tape and a kitchen sink.

While it is fun and exciting to find a variety of strange items every year, the more common items collected from shorelines continue to be found in abundance annually. Every year, cigarette butts top the list of finds in Canada, and around the world. In 2009 alone, this conservation program removed 367,010 cigarette butts from shorelines across Canada – if a someone smoked a pack a day, it would take them over 50 years to smoke that many cigarettes. Lined up from tip to tip, it would also cover the length of over 150 hockey rinks. The majority of shoreline litter originates from two sources: shoreline and recreational activities and smoking-related activities.

The 2011 Dirty Dozen