The environmental group, Blue Bayfield, has been named the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority's Conservationist of the Year.
Blue Bayfield co-founder Ray Letheren started the group after meeting a group in England that was drawing attention to the plastic pollution around the island about five years ago.
Since then, Letheren has spoken all over Canada about the problem here, and specifically, in the Great Lakes. He says what people don't realize is there's twice as much plastic in the Great Lakes as there is in the ocean.
“What people aren't aware of is there are twice the amount of plastic in the Great Lakes as there is in the ocean. By estimate, there are 440,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre on the surface. So it's a catastrophic issue,” said Letheran.
Letheren says there are about 600 communities on the coast of England that have been designated plastic-free, which means they're making a serious effort to eliminate single-use plastics, In 2017 Bayfield became the first community in Canada to get that designation.
45 communities in Ontario have contacted him to find out more about what they're doing and the support locally has been very encouraging.
That includes a group from South Huron District High School led by science teacher Amanda Keller who brought several of her students to Bayfield last school year to observe what was being done and took ideas back to start their own program.
Letheren points out the students have a lot more energy than the Blue Bayfield group and they also have the technical expertise to get their message out, so it's very encouraging to see young people taking up the cause.
