From the Atlantic to Pacific, here are 3 ways you're making a difference for nature

WWF

Corner Brook Intermediate School, Newfoundland and Labrador

Students at Corner Brook Intermediate School implement their Go Wild school grant-funded recycling program. (c) Richard Collins

Without an existing recycling program for paper and bottles at school, students stepped up to create their own with a $500 Go Wild School Grant from WWF-Canada. By placing the appropriate bins in all classrooms and taking responsibility for cleaning, sorting and delivering recycling to the depot, these students are helping to keep waste of out the nearby woods, wetlands and salmon spawning river.  

To find out how you’re helping nurture young conservationists, visit
wwf.ca/gowildschools.

Gillian Sernich, member of WWF-Canada’s Legacy Circle, Strasbourg, Sask.

WWF-Canada supporter, Gillian Sernich, with her horse and dog. (c) Gillian Sernich

For Gillian Sernich, a member of WWF-Canada’s Legacy Circle, nature has always been important. “I spent most of my preschool years playing outside,” Gillian says. “We had some farm animals and I noticed things like the smell of meltwater, the sounds of birds and the yipping of coyotes. My dad also had a deep respect for wildlife.” She fondly recalls a stoat (a type of weasel) that moved beneath the floorboards of her family’s old log house, and how thrilled she felt that the stoat “chose” their home.

Years later, Gillian’s late husband, who intimately knew the Roche Percee Valley, expanded this appreciation by introducing her to wildlife of the southern prairie. “When I retired from teaching, I bought a little farm so I could have my animals and be a lot closer to nature.”

This appreciation also inspired Gillian to safeguard species — now and in the future. “I’ve noticed there are fewer varieties of butterflies than I remember as a child; there were always bees bumbling around people’s gardens, and now a bee is something to be remarked on.” By choosing to leave a gift in her Will, Gillian’s supporting programs for wildlife and protecting nature for generations to come.

To learn more about leaving a gift in your Will or Estate plan, please call Maya Ahmad at 1-800-267-2632 ext 7263 or mylegacyforwildlife.org.

Wendy Jeske, Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, Boundary Bay, B.C.

Wendy walking along the beach. (c) Hayley Jeske

If you’re walking along the beach in Boundary Bay, B.C., early in the morning, you might spot Wendy Jeske and her husband, Dale, picking up litter. It’s something they’ve done for more than 10 years after discovering plastic bottles and wrappers littering a beach where they’d been admiring sea turtles during a trip to Hawaii. “When I got home, I realized that Boundary Bay was likely experiencing the same trouble,” says Wendy.

While the amount of plastic in our waters can be daunting, Wendy believes every bit we pick up counts. “Maybe this one cellophane wrapper or plastic bottle top, or this one cigarette butt will not end up in the gut of a whale or fish, or won’t suffocate a turtle or a bird. Many people doing the same little thing everywhere can have a big impact,” she says.

Wendy’s commitment to keeping plastics out of nature is contagious. In fact, many of Wendy’s friends now clean up their nearby park, and her daughter picks up litter while hiking the mountain trails outside of Whistler and Pemberton.

Lead your own cleanup or join one near you at shorelinecleanup.ca