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inspiring
islanders
When
high tide recedes, the ocean leaves behind a host of natural litter:
drift logs, lengthy pieces of Bull kelp, bits of Eel grass and stranded
jellyfish.
Unfortunately, natural litter is not all that the ocean leaves behind.
Plastic bottles, rope, Styrofoam and plastic bags often are scattered
along the beach. This unsightly trash spoils our beautiful coastal
views, and threatens the health of the thousands of species that make
the ocean their home. Marine life or birds trapped or entangled in
ocean litter face injury, starvation, infection and even death. In
the Pacific Ocean, sea turtles eat floating plastic bags thinking
they are jellyfish, and fish eat cigarette butts.
Twenty years ago, Pender Island’s Michelle Marsden became an
advocate for the protection of marine life through her anti-litter
initiatives.
In 1988, while sailing along the Pacific coast on the first leg of
a two-year return journey from Victoria to Hawaii, Michelle, her husband
Kevin and young son Tyler started scooping debris out of the water.
Their “catch of the day” included fishing nets, plastic
bags and bottles, disposable diapers, six-pack rings and syringes.
By the time they arrived in Mexico, Michelle was determined to do
something about the man-made debris that she had seen afflicting the
world’s oceans and beaches. In Cabo San Lucas, she founded Project
ALTO (Against Litter Thrown Overboard, and Spanish for the word stop),
rallying recreational boaters and commercial fishers to bring their
trash back to shore. On their return passage between Hawaii and Mexico
they picked up, on average, 25 plastic items per day. When their 42
ft steel schooner arrived back in Victoria it resembled a garbage
truck, loaded with countless bags of marine garbage pulled from the
Pacific.
On a mid-voyage bus trip from Mexico back home to Pender Island in
1989, Michelle launched the BC Coastal Cleanup Campaign. Her goal
was to coordinate volunteer-driven beach cleanups in coastal communities.
The rest is history. Beach cleanups are now an annual spring (&
fall) event in many BC communities, typically coinciding with Earth
Day.
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Michelle
Marsden and North Pender Island Trustee Ken Hancock with part of the
"haul" from the 2008 Pender Island Beach Cleanup.
The 2008 Pender Island Community Beach Cleanup took place on Saturday,
May 17. More than 100 volunteers collected enough garbage and recyclables
from 32 Pender Island beaches to fill the Driftwood Centre dump truck
and trailer. Thanks everyone.
Michelle Marsden works at the Pender Island Recycling Depot. (6 years)
catch
of the day
Beaver Brad
Roberts at the 1993
Medicine Beach Cleanup
Photograph by Michelle Marsden
Over
the years, Michelle sought the assistance of the Institute of Ocean
Sciences to help her coordinate education programs, and compile a beach
cleanup database. Each year, beach garbage scooped up by beach cleanup
volunteers is counted, weighed and categorized. Last year, on Pender
Island, 201 volunteers collected close to three tons (2,700 kg) of trash
and recyclables (including several boat wrecks). Close to 80% of the
trash collected is made up of plastic and Styrofoam. They are the leading
ocean polluters.
The next time you encounter litter on the beach or on the water, think
of Michelle Marsden’s untiring efforts.
Please do your part.
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