By Lori Tarbett
In response to President Runte’s request to see Carleton members volunteering in the community, Patricia Ballamingie enrolled her second year environmental studies class in a service learning activity: the TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, a nation-wide initiative and the second largest cleanup in the world.
Approximately 55 students, along with Ballamingie, travelled by bus to the Ottawa Riverside Terrace Park and Westboro Beach to help clean the shorelines.
“This was an opportunity for the students to live their values and become engaged in local activities while helping the Ottawa river ecosystem,” says Ballamingie.
The class was instantly interested when the assistant professor introduced them to the activity. One student, Ian Covey, says he was excited, “. . . because it was a good, hands-on way to environmentally make a difference in the area.”
The cleanup was more than overdue as an air mattress, socks and used condoms were among the countless debris the class helped remove. “There were more cigarette butts on that beach than the number of people I’d seen smoking in the past year,” says Covey. “In fact, we even came across ducks that were eating the cigarette butts.”
Ballamingie and the students alike say the experience was worthwhile and the professor plans to participate in this service-learning project again.
“Although it felt like such a positive step, I also felt we were just scratching the surface. I wonder what percentage of the total garbage we actually collected: 1/100? 1/1000?” asks Ballamingie. “Hopefully, this exercise will spur us all to become more active in our community.”