**** FRIENDS of MCNABS ISLAND SOCIETY MEDIA RELEASE

Friends of McNabs Island Society – Annual Cleanup hauls in some
expensive dental work, and
too many lobster traps!

On Sunday June 9th, two hundred volunteers travelled
to the McNabs Island in Halifax Harbour for our 28th annual Beach Cleanup.

Volunteers wrapped up Oceans Week and Environment Week by
scouring the island for ocean debris – collecting approximately 350
bags of garbage and recyclables and over 50 lobster traps.

In total, volunteers have collected 13,900 bags of garbage and recyclables from the beaches of this provincial park and national historic site since 1991. The McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park cleanup is the longest-running and largest cleanup in the Maritimes!

Marine debris including rope, motor oil containers, hundreds of  lobster bands and tags, and over 50 lobster traps were hauled off the beaches. Interesting items
discovered this year included a gold post
for someone’s expensive dental work, parts for a coffee percolator
dating to the 1940s, and the bottom of a bottle from the 1800s, plus a 30 year-old sun catcher.

The bulk of the items collected were plastics – plastic sheeting and
containers, and pieces of Styrofoam as large as a bed frame. Plastic tampon applicators and  cotton swabs from Halifax’s sewage system and Tim Horton’s coffee cups, which have a plastic liner, continue to litter the
beaches.

Thanks to students from Ecole Secondaire du Sommet, staff from McInnes Cooper, Halifax Water and
RBC, along with many families and groups of friends, who volunteered
to pick up garbage that was
littering the island beaches.

Thanks to McInnes Cooper, Develop Nova Scotia, Halifax Water and
Oceans North for supporting the
volunteers; HRM and Adopt-a-Highway for providing garbage bags; Source
Atlantic for providing gloves; Murphy’s Cable Wharf and A & M Sea Charters for transporting  volunteers; Nova Scotia
Department of Lands and Forestry staff for getting the garbage to the
main wharf and A&M Sea Charters and Develop Nova Scotia for transporting the garbage back to Eastern Passage where it
was picked up by HRM garbage trucks for final disposal and/or recycling.

The Friends of McNabs Island Society is a volunteer-driven registered
charity dedicated to preserving
and protecting McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park and Fort
McNab National Historic Site.
Since 1990, the Friends of McNabs have improved the trails and park
facilities, organized community
beach cleanups and offered guided tours to island visitors – making
McNabs Island a welcoming park
for everyone.