James Casineau (right) of Kary Movers and Jim Abbott (left), a local musician, guard the event table and accumulated garbage in White Rock on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Help yourself to a cup of coffee, John Cousineau says. You don’t have to be a volunteer to enjoy a Timbit.
People who wander past the table expect a sales pitch or a request to join the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, but Cousineau lets them know it’s not necessary. In fact, take a reusable bag before you go, he says. Semiahmoo Shopping Centre donated boxes of them.
Cousineau and his wife, who own Kary Movers LTD, organized the beach cleanup along White Rock’s promenade on Saturday. Sept. 21. They registered through the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup initiative, a nationwide event held annually sponsored by the World Wildlife Foundation and the Vancouver Aquarium. The event encourages Canadians to pick garbage off their community beaches, dispose of it and submit a data sheet to be analyzed with the information sent in by all the other cleanup campaigns across the country.
This was the second time Kary Movers organized the beach cleanup. Last year, the beach was dirtier, Cousineau said, but they still managed to pick up at least 70 pounds of garbage this year. They worked from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and volunteers called Cousineau to send a company van to pick up items too large, heavy or awkward to carry by one person down the length of the beach. Items that required help to move included half a ping pong table, a door and a hunk of metal that contributed 25 pounds to the weight total.
The idea of forming a group for the cleanup came from the wife of an employee who had read about the nationwide event last year. Cousineau said the idea quickly gathered momentum and they had around 15 participants the first time. It was such a success, they decided to host it again this year. With more time to plan, the group doubled the number of volunteers.
“I love getting all the guys together, outside of work and just sort of messing around,” Cousineau said, “and you’re not lifting things – Well, [we’re lifting] a lot easier things. There’s lots of excitement and we have fun.”
Samantha Lego
Alex, I really like your lede, it drew me into the story (and not just because I have a soft spot for free food). I think it’s well structured and has good flow. You switch from present to past tense but I think it works with your narrative buildup. Did you get free a free Timbit?
Cindy St-Laurent
I was immediately drawn by the title because I was actually going to cover the same event in my Coquitlam city but ended up not being available. I think that this is an awesome idea and I am glad that people are participating in something so positive for our communities and for the planet itself. I was amazed to read that the big items such as half a ping pong table was found. It makes you wonder how those items got there. I’m hoping that this makes people more aware of what they do with their trash.