TELUS and Vancouver Whitecaps FC team up with Ocean Wise; Collecting over 100 kgs of waste from local community beach, in less than 60 minutes

With shared, long-standing legacies of giving back, TELUS’ partnership with Whitecaps FC continues to drive even more meaningful impact, with cleanup of a beloved Vancouver landmark, Spanish Banks Beach

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of the 18th annual TELUS Days of Giving, TELUS and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, including Ryan Gauld, Julian Gressel and Yohei Takaoka, joined the Ocean Wise Shoreline Champions movement last week at Spanish Banks beach to take action for the ocean, collecting waste from our waters. The match up demonstrates a shared commitment, announced as part of TELUS’ premier partnership with Whitecaps FC earlier this year, to drive meaningful impact in local communities in Vancouver. Leveraging the collective power and leadership of three Vancouver-based organizations to address plastic waste from source to shore, TELUS, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Ocean Wise worked together to clean over 100 kgs of waste, in less than 60 minutes, from 2.4km of shoreline on Vancouver’s Spanish Banks beach last Friday, June 16.

“At TELUS, we are committed to environmental sustainability and giving back to our communities through initiatives like TELUS Days of Giving,” said Patrick Barron, Vice-President of Corporate Citizenship and Community Investment. “We strive to preserve, protect, and restore the environment through a variety of initiatives, including cleaning up shorelines, launching a sea kelp nursery with Ocean Wise to regenerate vital ocean habitats, and planting trees to restore our forests. We believe that by taking action to protect our planet, we can help create a friendlier future for generations to come.”

Championed by team members almost two decades ago, the annual TELUS Days of Giving movement continues to grow, bringing together a record-breaking 80,000 TELUS team members and retirees across the globe this year. Together with partners like Ocean Wise and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, TELUS is helping address some of today’s most pressing challenges in their local communities.

Every year, 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced, 36 per cent of which is designed for single use or packaging. Of that number, only 9 per cent is recycled. Shoreline Cleanup is the largest direct-action environmental project in Canada, helping remove approximately 13 million tonnes of plastic that enters oceanic currents annually.

"Ocean Wise empowers businesses, community groups and families to take action for the ocean,” said Carlos Drews, Executive Vice President, Conservation, Ocean Wise. “Our Shoreline Cleanup program is one of the most effective ways community groups can make a difference - and that's exactly what happened last week. Seeing the participants from TELUS and the Whitecaps join us to clean the Vancouver shoreline is very inspiring."