Schlemmer Carpentry

Design Jeffrey Turford

Industry Carpentry

More than three years ago, the federal government adopted new “minimum standards” to prohibit dumping in marine protected areas (MPAs). But belugas, killer whales, seabirds, and other at-risk species are still threatened by harmful waste dumped by ships. Canada shouldn’t call an area protected if any dumping is allowed. WWF-Canada’s National Vessel Dumping Assessment found that ships generate a staggering 147 billion litres of operational waste in Canadian waters each year. That’s equivalent to 59,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Scrubber washwater — produced by ship exhaust cleaning systems — accounts for 97 per cent of the waste generated. Most scrubber-equipped ships use open-loop systems that release it right back into the sea. By looking at how much time ships spent in MPAs and other protected ocean areas, the assessment found up to 14.5 billion litres of this dangerous waste are dumped in protected areas. The bilingual No Dumping campaign was designed to bring awareness to WWF-Canada’s research, educate the public on the findings, then drive action and invite the audience to add their voice by sending a pre-written statement VIA email to Justin Trudeau, their local MPs, and other influential ministers. The No Dumping campaign exceeded engagement goals by generating over 22,000+ emails sent to policymakers. The WWF-Canada campaign also succeeded in bringing awareness to the cause and received a strong amount of earned media impressions.