Trash talk: Georgian Bay Forever to launch garbage-tracking devices in bay off Collingwood, Wasaga Beach

If you see someone toss a plastic bottle into Georgian Bay at the end of August, it’s not garbage — but it could help researchers understand where trash in the lake comes from, and the path it takes while it’s in the water.

Georgian Bay Forever is launching a project that will see bottles that have been modified to contain a tracking device set off into the bay. Bottles will be released at about 20 locations offshore from Thornbury to Balm Beach, with most of the locations off Wasaga Beach and Collingwood.

Amber Gordon, the project’s manager, said most of the locations will be focused around 50 to 100 feet in the water off from storm drain outlets.

“The whole idea behind the bottle tracking system is that it is supposed to simulate garbage being blown into the water, coming out of storm drains, and to track the trips that they take so that we can verify the potential locations for trash-trapping devices,” she said.

Various studies have estimated hundreds of tons of trash end up in Lake Huron every year.

Continue reading here