Quadra Island's 'Dream Team Beach Clean-up'

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Quadra Island’s 3-month-long beach clean-up finished over the weekend

“Once a week, usually on Wednesdays, we would go on a remote beach hike,  to different areas on Quadra that were hard to access.  We had to go hiking for maybe an hour or so to some of these places and then collect and leave debris, and then we'd have to return by boat another day,” explained Nevil Hand, who organized the campaign.

“Near the beginning, it was just Heather and I. We'd put out an announcement on Facebook then maybe I'd make a few phone calls, but come the time when everyone was supposed to be there, it was often just her and I.”

“As the weather got better, more people started coming out.  I think that some people realize that  it's not just picking up garbage.  You tie it in with a hike and you're enjoying the beaches and we're seeing wildlife. Probably a core of less than15 people were keen and it's hard to keep them motivated.”

“That's why we came up with the prizes. In previous years everyone got coffee, cookies and cake and that seemed to be enough. Now we have to do it twice a year, maybe more. It’s hard to motivate someone to pick up other people's garbage.” 

CC: How big of a problem is debris on Quadra Island? 

Nevil Hand: “It’s a pretty big problem,  just how the weather patterns and the tide and how Quadra is situated at the north end of Georgia straight. We seem to receive a lot of debris directly from the south of us, from all the big townships and cities even as far away as Bellingham. We've had signage and floats from all the way up from North Vancouver, Vancouver, you name it.” 

“Before 2019, the Sierra Club used to do a one day beach cleanup event, which was tied in with Earth Day. Then they just decided they weren't doing it anymore,  maybe partly due to COVID.” 


“In 2020  my wife Heather and I  decided that we still wanted to get exercise and go out on the beaches.  Once a week we'd go out for three or four hours and fill a few sacks full of garbage.” 

“After about a year,  I came up with the idea of starting a Facebook page because we had no funding and Facebook is free. We were able to attract a few other interested people.” 

“Then there was the COVID relief money from the provincial government and  maybe a bit of the federal government's money. Spirit of the West kayaks got a contract to do a fall cleanup in 2021. 245 We assisted with some of our Facebook group members on that cleanup.  They had a commercial contract, paid staff,  boats and all the equipment that we didn't have, and they were able to do a big thorough cleanup.” 

“Then six months later, it's all back again and there was no more covid relief money.  We're back to doing it ourselves.” 

CC: People have been talking to me about what you've been doing the last three months. How did you come up with the idea of having a contest?  

NH: “We came up with the idea of the contest in late November last year. We knew  it  takes a long time to motivate people and the best chances to remove the debris in my mind. Is after the winter storms,  when the weather starts to get better and before  people get busy with family and visitors and want to do other things in the summer. We timed the contest to start at the beginning of March and end just yesterday, at the end of May.