Vision

The Ocean Defenders believe that protecting the ocean starts with how we care for our rivers. We’re a student-led movement working to reduce microplastic and litter pollution in the Shubenacadie River by educating others at our school, inspiring action, and helping our community see that everyday choices—like how we sort our garbage at school or whether dog poo baggies actually make it to the trash—directly impact the health of our local watershed. Through fieldwork, peer education, shoreline cleanups, and public outreach, we aim to make environmental stewardship a lived, local practice—something that’s woven into how kids grow up in our community.

Action

When we began our work in April 2024, we started by asking: how healthy is our river—and what is hurting it? Though groups already exist to protect the Shubenacadie Watershed, we saw for ourselves that problems persist: lots of erosion, seasonal spikes in bacteria, blue-green algae blooms, and lots of litter. So we went straight to the source—visiting the river, collecting water and biological data, and documenting how people interact with it.

With support from Dalhousie Agricultural College, we learned how to assess river health properly. After six field visits in spring and early fall, we were relieved to find that the river is mostly healthy. But concerns remain: runoff from nearby farms caused serious spikes in bacteria during spring, summer conditions made algae growth more likely, and garbage was constant—every visit ended with a full bag, including camping gear washed downstream.

We knew data alone wouldn’t change things. So we created a way to share what we’d learned: a series of student-researched, student-designed info posters about the Shubenacadie River, focused on swimming, fishing, and dog walking—three activities our community loves. These weren’t fast to make. From October through January, we revised, rewrote, and redesigned. The result? Professionally printed posters that now hang at four local locations, including both schools and our community centre. Even our MP asked for a copy.

But we didn’t stop there. In April 2025, we organized our biggest event yet: a student-led shoreline cleanup and education day at Martinique Provincial Park. With help from our outdoor ed teacher, we invited 21 leadership students from Grades 6 to 8. The day included a story circle, a trash-sorting activity based on photos from our own school bins, personal stories about the river, a poster show-and-tell, and a shoreline cleanup. We collected 20 pounds of garbage—and sparked a conversation about how school litter is making its way into the river.

Reflection & Celebration

Making our posters and organizing our shoreline clean-up showed us how hard it can be to keep people motivated—but also how much energy our peers have for real change. Afterward our shore-line clean-up, we connected with another organization, Scotian Shores, for advice on future cleanups, and we’re now planning a litter audit to support their provincial shoreline monitoring project.

The work continues: Before the end of the school year, we’re planning a garbage art installation to raise awareness about school litter and recycling. In the fall, we hope to organize a public cleanup along the Bay of Fundy shoreline and invite families to join us. We’re also reaching out to the administration at our local high school to start a new chapter of Ocean Defenders so that this project doesn’t end when we move on.

Why does this matter to us? Because the river is part of who we are. We swim in it, fish from it, paddle on it, and walk its banks. It connects us to nature—and to the ocean beyond. We’ve learned that protecting the environment doesn’t always start with government or big organizations. Sometimes, it starts with kids, garbage bags, and hard questions. We’re proud to be part of something that’s making change, even if it is just one garbage bag at a time.