Niagara College’s Office of Sustainability is ready to demonstrate that you don’t need to gather in-person to have a positive environmental impact in the community.
The College is teaming up with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) – joined by the Niagara Coastal Community Collaborative, and Swim Drink Fish – to bring its annual fall cleanup and bioblitz virtual for 2020. The weeklong online event will kick off on Friday, September 25 and run until October 4. Participants are challenged to walk around their neighbourhoods, pick up litter, record their findings and take plenty of photos along the way!
NC’s sustainability program and outreach coordinator Amber Schmucker noted that the College looks forward to hosting this annual event each fall as a kickoff to taking action for sustainability on campus and in the community, and has adapted this year’s fall cleanup to help protect participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Students and community members seem to always enjoy getting together for a common goal of making an area in Niagara more beautiful then they found it. This year, we welcomed the challenge of keeping with tradition, but ensuring the safety of the event participants, which resulted in the concept of a virtual clean-up,” she said. “Our main goal this year is to spread the word that you can continue to take environmental action during these extraordinary times by just going for a walk in your neighbourhood.”
Because the event is traditionally a shoreline cleanup, Schmucker noted that they are excited to partner with the NPCA whose many properties are adjacent to local creeks and water bodies.
The event is part of NC’s annual participation in World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Canada’s Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup program. It is one of the largest environmental community engagement programs in Canada, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited in partnership with Vancouver Aquarium and WWF as a conservation and cleanup initiative.
How to participate
- Those interested in participating are encouraged to involve members of their social circle and register for the free event via Eventbrite here. Sign up individually or as a team.
- A registration package will be mailed to all who register with further details about how to carry out the cleanup/bioblitz.
- From September 25 to October 4, participants are encouraged to walk around their neighbourhoods and pick up any litter they see. Please wear facemasks and gloves, and sanitize as needed.
- Record findings on a data sheet that will be provided and take photos of findings.
- Upload photos to Gassy at gassy.swimdrinkfish.ca to help Swim Drink Fish monitor what’s in the waterways.
- Don’t forget to smile for a selfie and tag @sustainabilitync and @npca_ontario on Instagram.
- Record species seen in your neighbourhood and add them to NC’s iNaturalist project (search for Niagara’s Virtual Fall Clean-up/Bioblitz and click ‘Join.’
- Once the week is over, participants are to take a picture of their data cards, and upload them to the link provided in their event registration package (via email). This step is very important; it is how the amount of waste collected is reported to WWF-Canada.
