A cheerful clean‑up

Getting out of the classroom can have a powerful impact.

On Saturday, October 1, members of the Dal Environmental Law Students Society and the Biology Organization for Grad Students hosted a cleanup of Inner Sambro Island. The event was part of the Dalhousie Student Union’s annual Green Week.

Mason Goulden, one of the organizers, says inspiration for the cleanup came from a camping trip to the island earlier this year. The area was beautiful, but cluttered with trash.

"We realised how much plastic there was out there, and I realized that if we didn't do something, no one else was going to do anything," he says.

Sambro is a fishing community located at the southern edge of the Chebucto Peninsula. Inner Sambro Island is uninhabited, but sometimes used for picnics and camping trips. Beyond this island is Outer Sambro Island, known for housing the oldest operational lighthouse in the Americas.

It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning when approximately 18 participants arrived at the harbour. Since the water around the Inner Sambro Island is shallow, a larger boat took the group partway there, and a smaller boat ferried people to the island.

There was plenty of work to be done. By the end of the morning, the group had filled 20 garbage bags of debris, cleaning up rope, water bottles, plastic drink rings, plastic jugs, cigarette butts, plastic wire from nets and broken lobster traps. They were forced to leave behind some bulkier pieces of garbage, including old tires and an abandoned refrigerator.

While some trash may have been left behind by visitors, most had likely arrived by wind and tides. In 2015, National Geographic reported that eight million tons of plastic garbage end up in the world's oceans every year.

Carla Cichowska, a participant from the Environmental Law Students Society, enjoyed the cleanup event.

"It feels good to do this kind of stuff, and it's just fun being with friends," she said. "You're helping, but you're also having fun and spending time getting to know people better. It's a very good experience."

One or two people took advantage of the warm weather, swimming laps in the salty water. Before heading home, the group left a sign on the island asking visitors not to litter.

Goulden says the cleanup was worth all the work and preparation.

"We got lots of garbage off that island, and we'll go back and get the rest another day. And yeah, it was beautiful -- get out and get some real hands-on ocean-cleaning done, as opposed to just submitting documents and collecting data."