The Coastal Citizen

The Coastal Citizen Episode 3: The endless ocean garbage dump

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 15:00:00 -0300

The vastness of the ocean has made it a natural go to spot for getting rid of what we don’t want. But since the advent of plastic more than 50 years ago, even the seas might be reaching a saturation point.

In this episode of The Coastal Citizen, we look at why and how we treat the ocean like a garbage dump, how it's affecting us, and what we’re doing to clean it up .

We walk the beaches of McNab's Island in Halifax Harbour, and then go into the sewer system to find out how so many tampon applicators (and other plastics) are making it into our oceans. And then we hear about the growing problem of microplastics: tiny plastic particles in our water that are likely affecting fish and ocean wildlife.

Featuring voices and sounds of: Cathy McCarthy, Patrick McMannis and other Friends of McNab's Island clean-up volunteers, Lewis Stewart inside one of Halifax's many sewage pumping stations, Olivia Paitich, and Alysse Mathalon.

The Coastal Citizen is produced by Erica Butler for CKDU FM, with funding from the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Special thanks to Pierre Loiselle for production help and mentorship.

The Coastal Citizen Episode 2: The costs of oil and gas

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:00:00 -0300

Offshore oil and gas development is high stakes. The companies involved in it are global giants: BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Encana. And the governments in charge of regulating it stand to gain hundreds of millions in royalties. There's many on the east coast with concerns that oil and gas development, or even exploration, has risks and impacts that are just not worth the payoff.

On this episode of The Coastal Citizen, we take a look at a global industry taking root off the Atlantic coast, and the concerns being raised about the dangers it poses to our ecosystems and economies.

Featuring voices of: Dr. Lindy Weilgart, Mary Gorman, Troy Jerome, Claude Jeanotte

The Coastal Citizen is produced by Erica Butler for CKDU FM, with funding from the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Special thanks to Pierre Loiselle for production help and mentorship.

The Coastal Citizen Episode 1: The ever-changing shoreline

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:00:00 -0300

In this first episode of the Coastal Citizen, we focus on the ever-changing shoreline.

We'll meet Emmett McKenna, a PEI man who watched his property disappear into the Atlantic ocean. We'll check out CLIVE, a sea level rise and coastal erosion simulator showing the future of Prince Edward Island shorelines. And we'll take a walk with Emily LeGrand, an advocate for re-creating naturalized shorelines to buffer against coastal erosion.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Coastal Citizen podcast feed >>>

Photo by Nancy Waldman

The Coastal Citizen is produced by Erica Butler for CKDU FM, with funding from the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Special thanks to Pierre Loiselle for production help and mentorship.