As I was going through my handy dandy set of online news alerts, this article caught my attention, “Hair rollers among rubbish netted in Knoydart clean-up.”

It is nice to know that one can find odd and unusual items along beaches and shorelines beyond Canada. Last year, some of the most usual items that were littered across Canada were

• underwear
• furniture
• a stethoscope
• traffic signs
• compasses (for those who were lost because the traffic signs have disappeared)
• a yoga instruction kit
• a homemade parachute
• hockey equipment
• a treasure map in a bottle
• a burned trailer
• overalls stuffed with pillows
• an antique sewing machine
• a Hibachi BBQ
• fire extinguishers
• bikes
• car parts
• gas cans
• oil drums
• a projector’s reel
• park bench
• satellite dish
• real estate signs
• a wheelchair
• an IV bag
• a metal brake from a snowsled
• shopping carts

This does make me wonder what wonderfully odd treasures our shores hold for us this year?

The disappointing thing about finding these items is that these items did not originate from water, they originated from land. Through the actions and behaviours of people have these items ended up resting along the shorelines of ponds, streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.

In addition to marring the view of our shorelines, some of these items also leach harmful chemicals into the water and land – affecting both wildlife and the community surrounding it.

Luckily, the TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is here to remind people that you can make a difference. Through individual actions to remove litter from shorelines across Canada, the TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is able to gather data about the types of litter that encroaches the natural environment and keep it off the beaches.

Join the 15th Annual TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and be part of the solution. Register to cleanup a location near you by visiting www.vanaqua.org/cleanup or call 1-877-427-2422.