How These Former Fort Mac Oil Workers Became B.C.’s Coastal Clean-Up Superheroes

The pair helicopter into remote BC locations to clean up and recycle marine debris.

Ashley Tapp and Jeremy Brown of Ocean Legacy work to restore shorelines and oceans by processing marine debris. They frequently travel to remote locations by helicopter, where they lead teams of cleaners in sweeping the beaches of materials like lost fishing gear, garbage from ships, shipping containers, and even tsunami debris. The team then recycles, repurposes, or disposes of these materials in an effort to protect the environment. Foreground: Ashley Tapp on Facebook. Background: (Galiano Island) Liam Hill Allan | Dreamstime.com
Ashley Tapp and Jeremy Brown of Ocean Legacy work to restore shorelines and oceans by processing marine debris. They frequently travel to remote locations by helicopter, where they lead teams of cleaners in sweeping the beaches of materials like lost fishing gear, garbage from ships, shipping containers, and even tsunami debris. The team then recycles, repurposes, or disposes of these materials in an effort to protect the environment. Foreground: Ashley Tapp on Facebook. Background: (Galiano Island) Liam Hill Allan | Dreamstime.com

Ashley Tapp and Jeremy Brown met in Alberta’s oil capital Fort McMurray when she was working as a welder and apprentice, and Jeremy was her journeyman. But the two eventually found themselves called to a different purpose – environmental clean-up.

“We all started out as volunteers, but now I actually get to say that I get paid to clean beaches.”

Ashley Tapp
This once-suffocated beach is now a stunning reminder of the impact of coastal pollution and the importance of environmental protection. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers like Ashley and Jeremy, it has been restored to its natural beauty. Source: Ashley Tapp on Facebook. Photo Credit: Alex Lackner

“We all started out as volunteers, but now I actually get to say that I get paid to clean beaches. That’s crazy,” said Tapp in an exclusive video interview with West Coast Now.

“It really makes you feel like you’re giving back.

Ashley Tapp
Removal of 1800kgs of net from the beach (before/after). Photo Credit: Ocean Legacy.

They now work for the non-profit Ocean Legacy, restoring shorelines and oceans by processing marine debris. They often get helicoptered into remote locations, and sweep the beaches with a team of cleaners who then recycle, repurpose, or dispose of materials like lost fishing gear, garbage from ships, shipping containers and even tsunami debris.

“It’s very hard work. You’re in there, you’re cleaning, you’re elbows deep into the salal [shrubs] and the log jams, and you’re hiking, and you’re dragging rope and all of this stuff down the shoreline,” she went on. “But at the end of the day, you feel like a true superhero. You’re just lacking a cape.”

The couple can’t think of anything else they’d rather be doing.

“It really makes you feel like you’re giving back. We all take from this planet a lot, so when you find anything to do that helps you be a part of a better future, you just have to take it,” said Tapp.

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