Litter Cleanup along the Beach & Marine Drive in White Rock

July 28, 2024

Thank you so much Lower Mainland Green Teamers for your hard work and enthusiasm:

Alexander, Alina, Alvera, Amos, Amy, Andrew, Anisa, Anwar, Azhar, Barb, Betty, Brittany, Bryan, Cadence, Cathy, Celia, Chen, Cheryl, Diana, Earl, Emily, Fairy Wei, Grazyna, Hannah, Hong, Hyunjae Alexander, James, Jie, Jiyoung, James, Joshua, Kathy, Kelsey, Kim Haiyan, Michael, Mike, Min Jae Benjamin, Natalie, Rita, Roger B., Roger Y., Stephen, Stephen C., William, & Xiaoran!

Enjoying ocean views during a walk along the promenade and streets of White Rock while making a difference in the community? Sounds like a great way to spend a cloudy-turned-sunny Sunday! We’re so happy to have had everyone join together for our first ever beach/street litter cleanup in White Rock!

Keep reading our impacts, highlights and more from the day…

Impacts

44 community members engaged
13 people visited White Rock Beach for the first time
23 people removed litter for the first time
146 hours contributed to habitat restoration
Over 140 lbs of litter of all shapes, sizes and weights were removed from the beach, promenade, and areas along Marine Drive, about as heavy as 1.5 toilets!
Over 3,000 pieces of litter were tracked and removed including:
- 1,491+ cigarette butts
- 717+ bits of paper and cardboard
- 353+ food wrappers
- 160+ pieces of glass
- 149+ cups & lids
- 87+ plastic bags
- 81+ bottles & cans
- 60+ pieces of metal
- 48+ pieces of styrofoam
- 11+ electronics
- and more!
Some interesting finds include…
- A broken boogie board, many vapes and vape cartridges, a retainer, a piece of a boat, nearly full 2L bottle of Canada Dry, peeling paint, pack of nicotine patches, badminton racket, 10 ice cream scoops, rubber gloves, and a pringles can!

Highlights

This was the Lower Mainland Green Team’s first ever beach/street litter cleanup in White Rock!
This activity was featured in the Peace Arch News TWICE!
- Read the article published on July 15, 2024 HERE.
- Read the article published on July 31, 2024 HERE.
Everyone split up into groups and got to enjoy time walking along the beach, promenade, and sidewalks while cleaning up the community!
Many passersby thanked us for our work, and even asked about how they could get involved too!
We got to enjoy ocean views up close and take in the sea breeze during our snack break by the water
- Andrea’s homemade vegan brownies were a hit and everyone enjoyed having a nice variety of snacks to munch on!
Community members joined from across the Lower Mainland, including from White Rock, Surrey, Langley, Delta, Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver and Vancouver to make a positive impact, which goes to show the power of these activities to bring people together!
People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels came out including families, students working professionals, retirees, first timers, returning LMGTers and newcomers
- Cathy chose to spend part of her Sunday with us after casually stumbling onto our setup that morning!
This activity was Andrea’s last time helping to lead as the LMGT’s Program Coordinator. We enjoyed having her form a valuable part of our team and look forward to seeing her attend future activities!
Special thank you to:
- Our volunteer Litter Leaders, Alina and Amos for doing a stellar job leading participants along their cleanup routes!
  - If you’re interested in volunteering to be a Litter Leader at an upcoming litter cleanup, we welcome you to apply on our website HERE!
- Anwar for arriving early to help us set up and staying late to lead the packing of the vehicle!
- Every single person who joined us for this wonderful event, spending quality outdoor time in great company, and sharing their dedication to the community!

"It was so well organized - made it a pleasure to be able to participate. This program will help to keep our city clean, it raised awareness of many citizens - not just those who participated of how important it is to keep litter out of the environment.Many people thanked us for doing the clean up & I think will encourage them not to litter."

"I enjoyed being able to volunteer with my children. Doing an activity that they could participate in was great. My daughter said her favourite part was picking up the garbage. I thought it was well planned and easy to find, nice to be able to use the tools that were brought. The snacks were a bonus! Wonderful impact helping to keep our community clean."

"It was satisfying to feel we were making a difference in improving the environment, and nice to meet new people. This program creates awareness to others of the impact of their actions on the environment. A lot of people saw us & thanked us. Some took pictures with us. Hopefully it will inspire them to cleanup the environment & be more mindful of their own habits."

Community Investment Partner

THANK YOU to the City of White Rock for providing financial support and direction to make this activity possible!

Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.

This was our FIRST ever beach/street litter cleanup in White Rock, and our 6th of 8 activities we are organizing with the City of White Rock this year!

In-Kind Support

Thank you to Big K Clothing who generously donated safety vests to keep our participants visible, ICS Clean Supplies for donating hand sanitizer and helping us acquire many litter pickers, and the fantastic local eco-friendly businesses, Green Beaver, OLA Bamboo, and Nature Bee Clean that donated products for our hard-working community members to take home!

Please contact LMGT Partnerships Manager, Ashton Kerr, if you are interested in providing in-kind or have suggestions for businesses to contact.

Why We Do This Work

The Lower Mainland Green Team organizes hands-on educational activities that have a positive environmental impact to empower people. Through activities such as invasive plant removals, plantings, litter cleanups and more, we are fostering connections with others and nature so that health and well-being is prioritized, lifelong environmental stewardship is promoted, and community members are enabled to take care of themselves, each other and the places they live. We all have the power to make a difference!

We all experience mental and physical health benefits from spending time in nature, including reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mood, focus, memory and more. While doing so, we can also have a positive impact on the environment as demonstrated through this activity!

Staff Who Made This Activity Possible

The LMGT has a new Program Manager, Shelley Levis! This was Shelley’s third time helping to lead an activity with us and we are excited to have her energy and expertise on board to lead our program and activities moving forward.

Past Program Manager, Ashton Kerr, is excited to have transitioned into the newly created role of LMGT Partnerships Manager. She will be focusing on the building of current and potential partnerships, as well as media relations for our team.

This was Program Coordinator Andrea Robles’ last activity with the Lower Mainland Green Team, what an awesome way to wrap up such a wonderful time with our team!

Andrea, Ashton, and Shelley work hard behind the scenes to bring these high-quality activities to you.

Partnership building, fundraising, outreach, social media, activity logistics, leading on-the-ground, reporting on impacts and more – they can do it all!