A day of volunteering on the St. Lawrence riverbanks

The Saint Lawrence River orchestrates itself as a unique place of refuge. It welcomes with open arms Bota Bota and its passengers who, every day, benefit from its variable temperament, throughout the seasons. Although it takes care of us, we must also take care of it. It’s on a hot and humid June morning that several sailors found themselves on the banks of the Lachine Canal, accompanied by the brilliant Nathalie Lasselin and her team for a few hours of volunteering to help clean up the riverbanks.

Nathalie is no stranger to Bota Bota. In 2022, she offered her time and knowledge to the Anchor Point podcast and engaged in a resourceful conversation with Constance Carpanèse, brand manager on board.

With her experience in wild waters, those of the St. Lawrence have almost no secrets for her. Only one mystery persists: the reason why humans leave their garbage lying around all along the river.

At 8 a.m., while the members of Bota Bota gathered in the parking lot, Nathalie introduced her acolytes on site. Some were present to collect trash on land, while others would put on their wetsuits to fish for trash in the water. At everyone’s disposal were gloves, buckets and tongs to help out with the cleaning process.

No one really knew what to expect in terms of quantity, but one thing was for sure, the smallest items were the most important to look out for. Cigarette butts remain Nathalie’s pet peeve.

Armed with courage and coffee, everyone headed towards a patch of land to clean. Quickly, cans, pieces of plastic and tar, cardboard cups, syringes and cigarette butts piled up. Once the buckets were filled, they were weighed and documented before being sorted into public bins.

Before these volunteer activities, Nathalie notifies the public works of the district, since certain discoveries on site can be very cumbersome. And for good reason, fished out of the waters that very morning were several metal fences and a wheelie bin, home to local crustaceans.

The morning ended, 215 kgs later. Faces were happy, as a day of volunteering is always a pleasant moment to forge new links with colleagues. Hearts were however a little heavier, faced with the astronomical quantity of waste found on site.

There were indeed a lot of cigarette butts, but the surprise of the day was the hundreds of pink confetti scattered by the wind, following what could very well have been a gender reveal party. This is what we call being born with an environmental debt towards the planet.

The St. Lawrence River is a precious asset for Montreal and its surroundings. 80% of tap water comes from this unique place which is also home to fascinating flora and fauna.

Nothing is perfect, and Nathalie understands these actions are fraught with compromise. But these volunteering activities are necessary, even vital to the well-being of the river.

To learn more about bank cleaning and other volunteering activities: https://aquasubterra.org/actions/nettoyages-uwo/

Photos: Thibault Carron