Kayak and canoe paddles and beer cans made up the bulk of the trash

Volunteer scuba divers pulled nearly 250 pounds of trash from Buntzen Lake in a cleanup this weekend

ANMORE (NEWS 1130) — Hundreds of beer cans and bottles, fast food containers, paddles, and even a drone were pulled out of Buntzen Lake this weekend.

A team of 15 volunteer scuba divers worked with Vancouver scuba shop Diving Locker, and pulled almost 250 pounds of trash out of the lake just north of Anmore.

Diving instructor Tess Hedbrich says she’s disappointed to see what people leave behind.

“Quite interesting to see all the people that are just visiting Buntzen Lake, and they actually see us, so many people actually take pictures of us cleaning up and they’re totally stunned about the trash. I think definitely just more awareness about the garbage that we leave behindis important,” she says.

While she says it’s great working as a team to clean up, seeing this much trash left behind is discouraging.

“It’s always great to see all the people coming together, at the same time, it’s quite devestating. I mean, some items like sunglasses and paddles — you do drop stuff, that’s fine — but all the trash, just like [from] picnics and drinking, is definitely a little distrubing,” she says.

Hedbrich has helped clean up Alice Lake, and Furry Creek in the past and says she wants people to do better with their trash.