More Than Just a Beach Clean Up
 

AHOI has been cleaning and auditing coastlines since 2019, shortly after the organization was founded. With over 200kms of coastline in the Gros Morne region, AHOI recognizes that cleaning our beaches is not enough; we must also look at what we are finding. Through waste and brand audits, we are able to better understand what is polluting our beaches, and develop programs to help eliminate it at the source.

Due to the nature of beach cleanups and waste audits, AHOI is always looking for volunteers to lend a hand. To date, more than 200 people have answered the call. These include local residents and families, tourists, members of other organizations, business owners, AHOI partners, students and teachers, and members of parliament. We also receive support from the 7 regional municipalities.

This important work benefits both the communities and environment. Please reach out if you, your community, class or business would like to host a cleanup or want to be a part of one of ours in the future. 

Working Together to Keep our Region Clean
 

Auditing the waste collected during cleanups is a tedious and time-consuming task, however, the resulting information gathered is invaluable. To help ensure this work is done, AHOI secured funding through the Zero Plastic Waste initiative (Environment and Climate Change Canada) and was able to hire staff that could help organize and conduct beach cleanups and audits.

AHOI also created a formal partnership with Gros Morne National Park and the Gros Morne Cooperating Association, called "Becoming Plastic Waste Free in Gros Morne", which increases the capacity to carry out this vital work. In addition to beach cleanups and audits in communities, the partnership made it easier for AHOI to conduct quadrant samples and audits in the national park as well.

The funds and pooled resources resulted in an almost 500% increase in the amount of coastlines covered and an almost 300% increase in waste collected from the previous year. Between May and September of 2021, AHOI cleaned a total of 13.4 km of coastline and collected a whopping 3,509.4 lbs of waste! Find out more about the 2021 beach cleanups and audits on our blog and in our news releases (see links below). 

Power in Numbers

237 Volunteers helped to clean our coastlines

Quick Clean Up Facts

855.5 lbs of rope collected on beaches

The amount of rope collected in 2021 can run the length of 406 Humpback Whales!

AHOI collected a total of 355.5lbs of rope between May and Aug , 2021, which is approximately 5688 meters in length.

Breakdown of waste by Type

Results of all beach cleanups from 2019 - 2021.

Microplastics have the highest count but are generally unidentifiable. Aside from microplastics, the most common items found comes from food packaging and takeout (8252 pieces). This includes things such as takeout containers, coffee cups, wrappers, bottles, etc.

Breakdown of waste by Brand

Results of all beach cleanups from 2019 - 2021.

A huge portion of items that did have brands are no longer legible. More than 3/4 of the brands that were legible relate to the food and beverage industry. Nearly 40% are Pepsico products including Gatorade, Pepsi, Crush, and Frito Lay. Following Pepsico are Coca-Cola, Anheuser-busch (beer company) and fast food chains such as McDonalds and Tim Hortons.