The Town of Cobourg has recognized Blue Dot Northumberland for its partnership at this year’s inaugural Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup in Cobourg on September 28.
Cobourg joined five other Ontario communities for the event, which was organized by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative with funding from the Government of Ontario.
According to the municipality, Blue Dot Northumberland played a key role in the success of the event by recruiting volunteers through its strong network of environmental supporters, assisting with the selection and coordination of four cleanup sites, and providing on-the-ground support to volunteers and data collection efforts on the day of the cleanup.
Launched by the David Suzuki Foundation in 2014, the Blue Dot Movement is a grassroots environmental campaign with the goal of enshrining the right to a healthy environment — specifically, the right to clean air and water — in law through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Through participation in the movement, over 170 municipalities across Canada have adopted declarations recognizing their citizens’ right to a healthy environment.
As Cobourg’s official community partner, Blue Dot Northumberland received $3,000 in partnership funding from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to participate in the inaugural cleanup.
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to publicly thank Blue Dot Northumberland for their incredible support during the inaugural Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup,” said Cobourg mayor Lucas Cleveland in a statement. “I am also grateful to the Cities Initiative for providing this partnership funding, which helped us make an even greater positive environmental impact in our community.”
The inaugural Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup took place on World Rivers Day, held annually on September 28 to highlight the importance of protecting and maintaining healthy waterways.
In Cobourg, more than 120 people took part in an effort to clean up the Lake Ontario shoreline, collecting over 1,200 pieces of plastic and other litter.
“I was thrilled to see the Cobourg community once again come together for a great cause,” Cleveland told kawarthaNOW after the cleanup. “We were hoping for at least 50 volunteers and ended up with 124 registered. I’m so grateful to the many community organizations who came out with such enthusiasm for this event.”
Calling the shoreline “the heart of our community,” the mayor said residents enjoy the beach daily but with that privilege comes the responsibility to keep it clean.
The Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup aims to help combat the large amount of waste that annually pollutes shorelines and waters. Pollution in the Great Lakes has a negative effect on natural ecosystems, wildlife, and clean water that is needed across Canada.
In Cobourg, the cleanup crew met at the marina building at to sign-in, collect supplies, and have a coffee before getting to work on the day of the event.
In addition to Blue Dot Northumberland, the Town of Cobourg recognized the Ecology Garden, Northumberland Land Trust, A Greener Future, Willow Beach Field Naturalists, Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, Community Power Northumberland, EV Society Northumberland Chapter, Seniors for Climate Action Now, Stalwood Homes and the Green Party of Ontario. New Amherst Homes was the event’s community sponsor.
Cobourg is one of the original members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which is a multinational coalition of municipal and Indigenous government executives representing more than 350 communities in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region who are working to promote economic prosperity in those communities and protect fresh water for the benefit of current and future generations.
The initiative aims to advance the environmental, economic, and social health of the region by addressing issues impacting its residents.
The Great Lakes contain almost 20 per cent of the world’s surface fresh water and sustain 4,000 species of plants and animals. hey are a source of drinking water for one in four Canadians, and home to one-third of Canada’s population.
An estimated 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes each year. Canadians living in the Great Lakes Basin throw away approximately 1.5-plus million tons of plastic waste each year, with up to seven per cent of that waste estimated to leak into the environment.
