'Water is life': Newfoundland man completes over 100 pond and beach cleanups

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Juanita Rossiter

Special to SaltWire

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Originally from Twillingate, Hynes now lives in Paradise, N.L. He runs a Facebook page, Avalon Pond Cleanups, that he describes as “one guy, one yak, one mission. I snorkel ponds to clean it up and recycle the discarded trash.”

Hynes describes himself as an avid outdoors person “with a passion for trying to make the environment healthier and safer for all to enjoy.”

It all started in the summer of 2016, when Hynes was swimming in a local pond near Paradise with his stepkids Tyler and Laura.

That's when he noticed garbage on bottom, including items like cans, bottles, and golf balls.

“I started diving down and picking it up, and brought what I could that day to shore and put it into the garbage," he says.

"A couple days later, I noticed more of the same items on bottom in another pond.”

This got Hynes thinking about what he could do about the pollution he was encountering.

“That night at home, I did a little thinking and decided that I would return with my kayak to use as a barge and do a good cleanup there," he says.

"It went well, and I recovered quite a bit from the bottom of the pond that day."

Pleased with what he'd been able to do, Hynes decided he would continue it in a few more ponds that summer.

“I already had a wetsuit, snorkel, mask, fins and the kayak at that time kicking around, and it works perfectly for what I set out to do," he says.

"The amount I was recovering from the ponds was huge, so my son mentioned to me about showcasing the finds on a Facebook page.”

This is the seventh summer Hynes has worked on cleaning up the Avalon ponds. He's completed over 100 pond cleanups, as well as 100 beachcombing and trail cleanups as well.

“I do those in the spring and fall when I'm not in the ponds," he explains. "For the most part, I work alone except for every now and then a friend or family member tags along.”

A local Newfoundland company has also started contributing to Hynes’ cause.

“Iceberg Vodka reached out to me last year with a suggestion of a pond that could use a cleaning up, so I went full circle around it and made it better," he says.

"From there, they offered to purchase me a new dive wetsuit and dive hood as my other gear was getting ragged. I accepted it, and this local company has been very kind to me and cares about the environment as much as I do."

Why does he do it? Simply put, "water is life," he says.

“I do what I do, because I feel the generations coming after me deserve to have healthier and safer waterbodies, beaches, trails, etc., as well as the wildlife that call these places home.”

Hynes doesn’t ask for anything and says he enjoys what he does.

“I clean all the glass bottles and fill some of the vintage ones with frosted sea glass to sell on my page to help offset the gas on my cleanups, as well as I sometimes hide them on beaches for families to find and enjoy. The smiles and joy it brings them when they reach out to me after they find one.”

All items recovered are given a second life.

“What I enjoy the most, other than the odd vintage item I find sometimes, is recovering something that's been lost for some time, decades on the bottom, and tracking down the owner and returning it," he says.

"I have done that with wallets, purses (handbags), eyeglasses, cellphones, sunglasses, etc.”

Sean McMullen, also known as "Saltwater Sean," is from Halifax, N.S. He, too, is on a mission to clean up the water.

It all started in May 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. McMullen was looking for something to do and says he was always curious about what was in the Northwest Arm.

“I bought a wetsuit, got my old fins and a snorkel, and explored the waters off Horseshoe Island, where I found a couple bottles," he says.

Although his dad sometimes joins him, McMullen generally does this alone.

"It’s therapy for me, so I go when I’m able to. I just take everything I can with me that I find. It’s a lot of work to do this, but worth it," he says.

“I think, for me, it’s just that one person can make a difference. I use social platforms to my advantage to get the word out on what I find and the amount of stuff I take out. No one tells me how to do this and I’ve learned to trust my instincts, and it’s working out so far.”

When he started diving, McMullen says, “I was just looking for bottles, but then realized if I glossed over other things and left them, that wouldn’t be good. So I took it all.”