BY BILL BRADLEY
Sudbury citizens are participating in a big way this year in the Great Canadian Cleanup.
More than 250 Sudburians, including Mayor Jim Gordon, are expected to make local lakesides and Junction Creek more appealing to locals and tourists alike.
Gordon has proclaimed Sept. 12 to 19 Great Sudbury Shoreline Cleanup Week.
This Friday busloads of Cambrian College eco-tourism students and staff from the Northern Environmental Heritage Institute will take a trip to Onaping Lake to clean up campsites.
?This event will focus on restoring campsites situated around the lake,? said Kim Goodman, organizer with Partners in Eco-Adventure Tourism (PEAT).
Saturday Sudburians are invited to Science North between 8:30 and 9 am. Participants will be assigned a section of the lake, given gloves and then go to work cleaning out trash.
All debris will be documented and the data sent to a central collection site in Vancouver.
Last year researchers found 22 per cent of the debris in lakes and rivers nation-wide was items such as cigarette butts and packages.
Many community groups will participate in the Sudbury cleanup including the Waterways Scuba Club, Sudbury Canoe Club and Sudbury Rowing Club.
More than 60 Laurentian Outdoor Adventure Leadership students will deploy to Laurentian Beach on Nepawhin Lake as well as to surrounding roads and paths.
Members of the Laurentian community including faculty will tackle the Robertson Cottage site across from the university?s entrance, said Stephen Ritchie, professor of Outdoor Adventure.
Following the cleanup, at about 12:30 pm, participants are invited to a barbecue at Science North.
The Junction Creek Cleanup will take place Saturday, Sept. 20.
Last year almost 10,000 Canadians helped clean-up 239 shoreline sites from British Columbia to Prince Edward Island.
For further information on the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, visit www.vanaqua.org/cleanup.
For local activities, phone PEAT at 566-8101, ext. 7218.
