Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

trash

Illegal waste dump on farm near Cultus Lake stokes environmental worries among residents

Illegal waste dump on farm near Cultus Lake stokes environmental worries among residents

D'Arcy Henderson picks up pieces of plastic and trash strewn across her neighbour's yard. The Columbia Valley resident points to steaming piles of waste sitting on the other side of a blue fence as the source. "If you look at the plastic on the ground and the garbage blowing, that's 500 years that won't disappear," she told CBC News. Environmental concerns are mounting in the small community near Cultus Lake, B.C., about 101 kilometres east of Vancouver, after truckload after truckload of business waste was dropped at a farm without provincial approval, violating B.C.'s Environmental Management Act.

New catch basin filters in Sudbury, Ont. capture 31 kg of trash in 3 weeks

New catch basin filters in Sudbury, Ont. capture 31 kg of trash in 3 weeks

A stewardship group in Sudbury, Ont., has installed eight catch basin filters on local waterways that have collected 31 kilograms of garbage so far. A catch basin consists of a grate and a drainage pipe, which are meant to collect large debris.The newly installed filters would help to catch smaller debris such as cigarette butts.  The Junction Creek Stewardship Committee received $98,296 from Environment and Climate Change Canada's EcoAction Grant program to install filters into catch basins throughout the city.

Volunteers clean up after Vancouver beaches left littered with trash

Volunteers clean up after Vancouver beaches left littered with trash

Dozens of volunteers cleaned up several Vancouver beaches Sunday morning after they were left littered with cans, bottles and garbage overnight. Beaches in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood and at English Bay, which are typically kept clean even during peak season, were both left with unusual amounts of trash on the hottest weekend of summer weather thus far. Locals who volunteered to clean up the mess said they were upset about all the trash. "I'm really disappointed to see it to be honest," said Kassandra Sison as she picked up litter at English Bay. "We're probably going to get at least half a dozen [garbage bags] if not a full dozen if we keep going."

EPA will undertake environmental review on transborder water projects

EPA will undertake environmental review on transborder water projects

The Environmental Protection Agency will move forward with environmental review of several water infrastructure projects intended to address transborder water pollution from the Tijuana River, it was announced Monday. “In order to protect public health and vital ecosystems in this vibrant area, we need a bold solution to the transboundary water pollution challenge,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox.

Lots of beer cans and sunglasses — cleaning up B.C. lakes is a labour of love for these divers

Lots of beer cans and sunglasses — cleaning up B.C. lakes is a labour of love for these divers

With the increase in recreation around the Lower Mainland's favourite lakes, there's been an increase in lake trash says the volunteer divers who collect it. "The trash has definitely increased in all the places we've noticed," said Henry Wang, a diver and co-founder of Divers for Cleaner Lakes and Oceans. In past years, he didn't find any garbage until he was under 35 feet of water in Sasamat Lake in Port Moody, Wang said. "This year ... the garbage started at 17 feet and I never got past 21 feet of water. I never even reached the previous garbage patch that started much deeper," he told host Gloria Macarenko on CBC's On The Coast.

Toilets and trash featured in Victoria exhibition about local history of water and waste

Toilets and trash featured in Victoria exhibition about local history of water and waste

There are some dirty pictures on public display at one of Victoria's oldest homes right now. Built in the early 1860's, Point Ellice House Museum and Gardens was a family home for more than a century before it was turned over to the province in the 1970s and became the national and provincial historic site it is today. And now until the end of the year, people are invited to check out the museum's latest feature exhibition exploring two basic human needs that city residents face regardless of the decade— dumping waste and accessing clean water.

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