Giving Compass' Take:

• Greg Hemmings explains how a successful harbor cleanup project in Saint John, New Brunswick inspired a film about the surf scene that grew in the wake of the cleanup. 

• How can funders help to build understanding of the value of cleanups like this one? What stakeholders would have to be involved in a cleanup effort in your area? 

• Learn about volunteers tackling ocean cleanup. 

My city—Saint John, New Brunswick—is not really known for surfing. There are natural reasons for this, but also some human-impact reasons as well.

Back in the late 2000s, we had been eying Courtenay Bay for a good year or two before any of us jumped in to try to surf her waves. Whenever there was a southwest wind and a low-pressure system, we would see epic waves that would just go forever. But no one dared to surf them at Courtenay because most of our city’s aging sewage infrastructure was falling apart and most of it dumped into our harbor untreated. But those waves!

In 2014, a local environmental group called the Atlantic Coastal Action Program Saint John (ACAPSJ) announced that a multiyear, multi-stakeholder harbor cleanup initiative was complete, and within one day and one ribbon cutting, the raw sewage from the east side of our city, along with the industrial effluent, stopped flowing into our waters.

It didn’t take long for the fish to come back.

It didn’t take long for the birds to come back.

It didn’t take long for the vegetation to come back.

It didn’t take long for the surfers and paddlers to come back.

Today, the water is cleaner and safe to swim and surf in. What a difference. We now surf Courtenay’s often, and there are no more rashes. It took the will of environmental groups, citizen volunteers, scientists, municipal leadership and industry to come together to make the harbor cleanup happen. It took a number of years, but our city is so much better as a result.

After a number of community members and organizations helped me raise a few dollars, we made From the Water, a film about the Saint John surf scene and our happy surfers enjoying clean water to play in. On a good day you can count up to 15 or more bobbing heads in one of our three surf spots, including Courtenay Bay. The film celebrates the grittiness of our industrial city and the spirit to make right the wrongs of the past and invest in infrastructure that protects the majestic waters that we rely on so much.

Read the full article about a harbor restoration by Greg Hemmings at B the Change at Medium.