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AHOI Beach Cleanups
& Waste Audits
Working Together to Clean our Coasts
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, 360 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.
Community volunteers help conduct a waste audit by sorting, counting, weighing and recording all the items collected during a beach cleanup in Wild Cove.
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 in 2020 was able to hire staff that could help organize and conduct beach cleanups and audits, as part of the Zero plastic Waste Gros Morne Initiative.
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, 2021 and September 2022, AHOI cleaned a total of 21.94km of coastline and collected a whopping 4,631 lbs of waste! Check out our interviews, presentation, and other resources to find out out more about AHOI's beach cleanups, as well as the state of pollution along our province's shorelines.
Community and Business Support
AHOI collaborates with towns and businesses during beach cleanups and audits. The respective municipal councils in the Gros Morne region help promote the cleanups, collect and transport the waste, and sometimes provide snacks for volunteers.
Throughout the years, more and more businesses have stepped in to help AHOI clean the coastlines as well. Gros Morne Coffee Roasters supplies coffee to volunteers at all beach cleanups and donates their used burlap bags to collect waste, which are sturdy, reusable plastic-free alternatives. Gros Morne Adventures have pitched in to ferry AHOI staff and volunteers to remote beaches, where they also help conduct beach cleanups and transport the waste collected.
AHOI has been working with businesses and communities in many capacities and AHOI programs, from cleaning our coastlines to reducing the amount of plastic waste being generated at their operations.
Reach out to us if you would like to help clean our coasts or get involved in any of our programs!
Top Photo: Gros Morne Adventures staff help the AHOI Waste Busters and community volunteers collect pollution from remote coastlines.
Left Photo: Gros Morne Coffee Roasters donate burlap bean bags that help beach cleanups be plastic-free, and coffee when it's time for a break!
Power in Numbers
25+ Kilometers of coastline cleaned and audited
18,000 Pounds of plastic waste collected during our beach cleanups
360 Volunteers helped to clean our coastlines
Quick Clean Up Facts
1237.69 lbs of rope collected from
Gros Morne beaches
The amount of rope collected by AHOI can run the length of nearly 1,176 Humpback Whales!
AHOI collected a total of 382.19lbs of rope between May and Aug, 2022, which is approximately 5083 meters in length.
Breakdown of waste by weight (2019 - 2022)
5941.4lbs
Results of all beach cleanups from 2019 - 2022.
In total, AHOI picked up 5,941.4lbs from 24.25km of coastline. This includes beach cleanups within the 7 communities and the quadrant samples within Gros Morne National Park.
Breakdown of waste by Type (2019 - 2022)
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Results of all beach cleanups from 2019 - 2022.
Microplastics have the highest count but are generally unidentifiable. Aside from microplastics, the most common items found comes from food packaging and takeout (9990 pieces). This includes things such as takeout containers, coffee cups, wrappers, bottles, etc.
Total of Item Collected (2019 - 2022)
Results of all beach cleanups from 2019 - 2022.
Microplastics have the highest count but are generally unidentifiable. Aside from microplastics, the most common items found comes from food packaging and takeout (9990 pieces). This includes things such as takeout containers, coffee cups, wrappers, bottles, etc.
Breakdown of waste by Brand (2019 - 2022)
Results of all beach cleanups from 2019 - 2022.
A huge portion of items that had 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.
Time-lapse of a Waste and Brand Audit
Staff and volunteers sort through waste collected during a beach cleanup in Rocky Harbour, NL
Sometimes weather conditions make it difficult to conduct an audit on the beach. Despite the sunny day during this cleanup in 2021, it was too windy to sort through the debris as many items can blow away. AHOI Waste Busters and their partners at Gros Morne National Park took the collected waste to a park's location that provided shelter from the wind.
Want to learn more or get involved?
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Check out this Blog from AHOI's Green Team and AHOI Waste Busters.
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Listen to this interview with CBC Radio about the 2022 beach cleanup season.
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Listen to this interview on The Broadcast, about AHOI's marine conservation programs and the 2022 beach cleanups. (13:15 mark)
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Watch a presentation about the 2021 cleanup & audit results (1:37:00-mark).
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Take a look at this news article about Plastic pollution clogging NL shorelines.
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Check out the CLEAR LAB report on pollution in NL from 1962-2019.
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Check out this Blog about Cleaning our Coasts with the AHOI Waste Busters.
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Listen to this Interview with CBC (7-minute mark).
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Attend one of our Beach Cleanups or Events.
