Walking along Esquimalt Lagoon with clean-up supplies in hand, Amanda Evans was shocked by what she found.

Thousands of cigarette butts littered the Colwood beach, which is a migratory bird sanctuary. And thatB次元官网网址檚 not all that was picked up from the shoreline.

Fourteen volunteers with the Greater Victoria Green Team, in collaboration with the Esquimalt Lagoon Stewardship Initiative, picked up 2,240 cigarette butts, 59 plastic pieces, 42 food wrappers, 33 bottle caps, 21 paper cups and plates, 17 glass pieces and 14 cigar tips, as well as a number of takeout containers, foam pieces, packaging material, straws, bottles and cans and toys during a beach cleanup of the Esquimalt Lagoon and Coburg Peninsula recently.

Some unusual items, including an old airplane seat belt and a recently expired parking pass for the University of Victoria were also picked up by the team, which is a region-wide environmental volunteer program that participates in the removal of invasive plants, cleaning up beaches and volunteering on educational farms.

While the Green Team has completed a total of four beach cleanups and invasive species removal at the lagoon since May 2016, they found the most amount of garbage this time around, with the main culprit being cigarette butts B次元官网网址� an item the team says outnumbers any other type of trash they find throughout the Capital Region.

B次元官网网址淚t was quite shocking. ItB次元官网网址檚 disgusting to think people would do that to a beach B次元官网网址� I think itB次元官网网址檚 just a lack of awareness still of the impacts that we have on the natural environment. ItB次元官网网址檚 easy to think once youB次元官网网址檙e done a cigarette that it will disintegrate, but it actually takes quite a long time to break down and theyB次元官网网址檙e full of chemicals,B次元官网网址� said Evans, program manager of the Green Team.

She noted in one area at the lagoon, there was a concentration of butts, where it looked like one person had emptied their carB次元官网网址檚 ash tray.

B次元官网网址淭hings are getting better, but there are some who are not quite aware of the impact their having by not putting their cigarette butt in the garbage,B次元官网网址� Evans said.

The Green Team will continue its work on the West Shore this weekend by removing invasive plants at Chancellor Park in View Royal on Sunday, Oct. 22 from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more information or to volunteer visit,

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