Step aside, Styrofoam cups and plastic straws. Bow down, bottle caps.
According to the annual "Dirty Dozen" list produced by the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, cigarette butts are the number one culprit when it comes to trash on Canada’s shores.
More than 560,000 cigarette butts were picked up as part of the nationwide cleanup effort in 2018; 117,000 more than runner-up, tiny plastic or foam items. Cigarette butts were second on the 2017 “Dirty Dozen” list.
Food wrappers picked up the bronze medal in in the latest shoreline garbage Olympiad, while bottle caps finished just under 7,000 shy of a podium finish.
Plastic bottles, straws, foam and coffee cups all finished in the bottom-half of the “Dirty Dozen” list.
According to data provided by the environmental protection group, 42 per cent of the trash found on Canada’s shores were smoking-related; 26.6 per cent consisted of trash smaller than 2.5 centimetres, while single-use food and beverage containers produced 17 per cent of litter picked up by participants.
The program’s annual report shows British Columbians and Albertans led the way in trash removal, with more than 51 per cent of the total cleanups recorded staffed by Canadians out west.
A total of 3,397 kilometres of shoreline were cleaned up by participants in 2018, resulting in 15,447 trash bags filled, 6,096 recycling bags jam-packed, and over 116,000 kilograms of litter removed from our shores.
Over 61,000 Canadians registered and participated in the 2018 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
