The Ucluelet Aquarium helped flow locals and tourist’s into Sunday’s Earth Day spirit by launching an inaugural debris derby.
“It was our first time doing this event and I’m pretty impressed by how many people showed up for it,” said aquarium staffer Emily Beeson who added she hopes to make the derby an annual feature on the aquarium’s calendar.
Derby participants signed up at a table outside the aquarium and had free rein to choose which corner of the Coast they wanted to tidy up and Beeson said a hearty cast of locals showed up to participate and many of the tourists checking out the aquarium were swept up into the festivities as well.
“It was a great way to let people go out and explore and enjoy the sun, but also give back a bit on Earth Day,” Beeson said adding she was thrilled to offer participants prize packages thanks to generous support from local businesses.
“We had so much local support for this event…It can be difficult sometimes getting people to go out and collect trash, especially on such a nice sunny day, but prizes are a great way to incentivize people.”
The prizes included local experiences as well as plastic reducing items like bamboo toothbrushes, glass straws and recycled toilet paper.
“It’s important to not just show what the problem is, but also show solutions,” she said. “I heard a really good analogy, ‘If you have a sink overflowing, are you going to grab a bunch of towels and just mop up the mess or are you going to turn off the tap. Right now, we’ve got a ton of plastic flowing into the oceans. It’s more than just cleaning up, it’s about making people aware of where this debris is coming from and trying to figure out a way to prevent more of it.”
She said Earth Day is a “good catalyst,” to get people thinking about their impact on the environments around them and that, hopefully, enough positive reminders can enact change.
“One of the most important things for us is spreading awareness about the environment and, by picking up debris like this, it’s a really good way of showing people how much debris is out here,” she said. “It’s important for us to be able to share what’s going on on this coast and spread that awareness.”
She said the West Coast has an abundance of committed organizations hosting cleanups and other environmental initiatives, but there is plenty of room for more to join the fight against debris.
“We’re getting more and more visitors to this Coast, we’re getting more and more industry, and we’re seeing an incredible amount of debris on the beaches,” she said. “It’s a constant thing that we need to address out here and Earth Day is a great opportunity to go out and be involved.”
She added that, outside her role with the aquarium, she was personally surprised as a West Coast local to see the amount of industry related debris picked up during Sunday’s derby.
“We did find the usual cigarettes, straws and water bottles, but it was incredible how much rope we found,” she said. “We found so much rope and we found so many big chunks of Styrofoam. For those kinds of things, its difficult for us as consumers to make a difference, but us as people in a political sense, we can change that.”
She encourages locals to reach out to their local Member of Parliament Gord Johns as well as their local government to promote laws that will prompt change.
The aquarium is currently conducting a microplastics survey of local beaches and anyone interested in helping out and learning more can reach out to Info@UclueletAquarium.org.