Guildwood Community Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up A Success – Sort of.
First I want to start by saying that Guildwood is a community that probably rivals anywhere in the world for nature conservationists per capita. The community support for the environment has been seen through countless efforts to preserve existing nature, early acceptance of waste diversion, and a real sense of stewardship of the natural surroundings residents are so fortunate to have.
A source of frustration for Guildwood residents most recently has been the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority’s plan to run dump trucks through this quiet community, literally paving over a beach to build up shoreline erosion control similar along a neighbouring community’s shoreline. Conservation Authority officials recognized others routes are available, but that Guildwood was most convenient as to do so wouldn’t require negotiating with folks who have title of the cliff face as well.
In doing so, the shoreline has become inaccessible during the day as construction is ongoing and will be for years. This has undoubtedly impacted the number of Guildwood residents who enjoy walking along the shoreline in our community.
With less foot traffic and the excellent daily stewardship work of some Guildwood residents; the entire stretch of shoreline from Greyabby Park to the Sylvan Park ravine is litter free. It meant that the shoreline clean up I was supposed to be the Site Coordinator for in Guildwood as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up was unnecessary. Instead of going over an area that was already spotless, a handful of residents and I decided to meet on Sunday anyways, and focus our efforts on cleaning up a portion of the woods, specifically between Jack Miner Senior Public school and the west side of the ravine where the access road to the shoreline comes off of Guildwood Parkway. Over the course of about an hour, a handful of us, had removed virtually all the accessible litter in this area. The idea being that as much as Sunday was supposed to be about a shoreline clean up, removing any litter from any natural environment is a good thing to do and we had the people and the supplies available.
The success was residents taking part in environmental stewardship, even though our initial goals had been met by the hard work of others. I do enjoy participating in clean ups, and occasionally planning them. This was the third clean up in five years or so that I’ve planned in and around Guildwood, although I do annually participate in some sort of clean up generally in the East Scarborough area. There is something that just feels good about it, something that you can be proud of because you’ve made an impact, however modest.
My own efforts are put to shame daily by the dedication of a core group of Guildwood residents that clean up public spaces within the community daily. In many respects, my own values, beliefs and action on environmental protection and nature conservation come from growing up and becoming active in a community where nature conservation is such a common practice and of such importance. On Sunday, I was happy to lend a hand, and do my part to help, however modest my contribution.
Tags: Environmental Stewardship, Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up, Guildwood, Guildwood Community Clean Up
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