Plastic pollution is found in all oceans including the Arctic Ocean. According to some estimates, by 2050 we will find more plastic in the oceans than fish.
The majority of plastic pollution comes from land-based activities. This means that direct action can be taken to stop the flow of plastic and other waste before it reaches waterways, in order to protect species and their aquatic habitats.
Initiated in 1994 by volunteers and staff at the Vancouver Aquarium, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup became a Canada-wide conservation program in 2002 that gives citizens the opportunity to take action in their communities, wherever the water and land meet, one piece of garbage at a time.
In almost 15 years, there have been 27,800 cleanups, collecting over 2 million kg of shoreline litter across Canada. More than 937,000 volunteers have cleaned 44,262 km of freshwater and marine shoreline in Canada - the equivalent of circling the Great Lakes three times - and have helped make The Great Lakeshore Cleanup the largest volunteer conservation initiative in the country.
Learn more about the Great Lakes Shoreline Cleanup: https://www.shorelinecleanup.ca/en
