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Cleaning up ocean’s shores in Canada drops plastic straws from ‘Dirty Dozen’ list

Ocean Wise, a global conservation organization headquartered in Vancouver, has released its annual Shoreline Cleanup Impact Report which will be shared with governments, researchers and the public. 

Included in the report is the 2023 “Dirty Dozen” list, which sheds light on the 12 most found items on Canadian shorelines in 2023. Drawn from citizen science collected from more than 35,000 Ocean Wise Shoreline Cleanup volunteers across the country, the list shows trends in the prevalence and types of litter in the environment and, ultimately, the ocean.  

This year, for the first time in a decade, the Dirty Dozen list will not include plastic drinking straws. This change may be due to several factors and cannot confirm a reduction in the total number of straws in the environment year over year. However, it is an indicator that efforts like Canada’s single-use plastics ban have a direct impact on Canadian shorelines and ocean.

 “Seeing straws drop off the Dirty Dozen list came as a really positive surprise,” Lasse Gustavsson, CEO of Ocean Wise, said. “While we can’t say for certain that this means the plastic ban worked, it certainly indicates that it had an impact. Straws, which were the first plastic item banned, have shown the biggest change year over year. I like to believe this is more than coincidence.” 

Ocean Wise experts are preparing data analysis that will report on effort-corrected trends in shoreline litter for its 2025 edition of the Dirty Dozen. This work aims to use the data collected by the one million-plus volunteers who have joined Ocean Wise Shoreline Cleanups to model the absolute quantity of various litter items.  

Eliminating plastic waste
“The world is taking action to eliminate plastic waste, as we saw at the latest plastics negotiations round in Ottawa, and Canada is among the leaders,” Steven Guilbeault, minister of Environment and Climate Change, said. “Canada’s ban on certain single-use plastics, coupled with efforts by all orders of government, has already started to help businesses and individuals move to sustainable alternatives, such as reusable items. There is a long way to go, but initiatives such as the Ocean Wise Shoreline Cleanup that positively engage and mobilize Canadians, are starting to see some encouraging signs. This cleanup program helps us better understand what items are littering our shorelines, and this kind of data contributes to smart policymaking toward creating a zero plastic-waste future.”

Another highlight from this year’s Dirty Dozen list is cigarette butts, which take the top spot yet again. Cigarette butts continue to dominate shoreline litter, accounting for a significant one-third of the litter collected during Ocean Wise Shoreline Cleanups nationwide last year. Ocean Wise is working to address cigarette butt litter through working with collaborators like Buttwatch, a community-based project started by a participant in one of the Ocean Wise Youth programs, Ocean Bridge. 

The 2023 Dirty Dozen will serve as a crucial benchmark to assess the impact on Canadian shores in the years ahead, as well as a reference for trends associated with the single-use plastics ban and the pandemic.  

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Ocean Wise’s Shoreline Cleanup program. Since 1994, Ocean Wise has actively engaged more than 1,000,000 volunteers in their local communities through its Shoreline Cleanup program, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited. It remains Canada’s largest direct-action initiative for protecting Canadian precious marine ecosystems. 

Ocean Wise is a globally focused conservation organization on a mission to restore and protect the ocean. Through research, education, public engagement, and international collaborations, it empowers communities to fight three major ocean challenges: ocean pollution, overfishing and climate change. By equipping and empowering individuals, communities, industries, and governments, Ocean Wise aims to create a future where people and oceans can thrive. Ocean Wise is headquartered in Vancouver with staff across Canada and Chile and operates conservation projects that make national and international impact. Learn more at ocean.org.