A B.C. school district is investigating after students trashed and left behind large amounts of garbage while on an unsanctioned graduation camping trip.
A video posted to social media shows piles of garbage bags and trash left behind by a large group on May 18 near Jones Lake campground, east of Agassiz.
The man who found the garbage said trash was strewn more than three quarters of a kilometre on the beach where more than 100 students were spread out.
He, his wife and the Four Wheel Drive Association of BC picked up all the garbage and filled six pickup truck loads.
“It’s absolutely not right,” he can be heard saying in the video. “This is so sad.”
The man explained how a storm rolled in on Saturday night and a bunch of the students got in their vehicles and left loads of stuff behind. The video shows chairs, cans, blue tarps, wrappers and plastic bottles, among other garbage.
Not only is the littering an issue, a large bear was spotted in the area. The area where the students were camping was on Crown land and not at the campsite.
The Delta School District confirmed in an emailed statement that it is investigating and is aware of the "appalling mess."
"Our preliminary investigation indicates that multiple groups were present at the campground, including students from Delta Secondary and Seaquam Secondary, as well as others not affiliated with the Delta School District,” said a spokesperson.
The district said the camping trip was not a school-sanctioned event, and no school staff were involved or present.
"As a district, we are disappointed by this selfish and irresponsible behaviour, which does not reflect the values we strive to instill in students — respect for others, for the environment, and for our community,” said the spokesperson.
A small group of students stayed back to try and clean up the mess, and the district commended their efforts.
"We also recognize that the vast majority of students at both schools are just as upset by this incident as the broader community,” said the statement. "It’s unfortunate that it reflects very badly on both school communities, regardless of direct involvement.”
The district said school administrators are actively investigating to determine who may be responsible for the damage, and it will take time to gather accurate information.
"The aftermath of this incident is harmful not only to the campground but to the reputations of secondary schools and their grads of 2025.”
Parents and caregivers are being asked to speak with their children about responsible behaviour, especially during unsupervised gatherings.
'Pack out what you pack in'
Matt Ion is part of the Four Wheel Drive Association of BC and organized a group of people to go clean up the mess on Monday after seeing the video.
He filled his truck and trailer full of the garbage — about 350 kilos. Some of the garbage bags had been ripped open by bears in the area.
“Our main message is pack out what you pack in,” he said. "If you can, take a little bit more and leave a place better than you found it."
When he got up to the area, he found three abandoned campsites with a pop-up tent that had collapsed, some camping chairs, and other garbage.
Ion said “a couple of five-gallon buckets with the pool noodles that had been set up for a toilet,” were also left behind.
A social media comment by a person claiming to be one of the students stated they didn’t have room to take the garbage back.
“You had room to bring it up, so how do you not have room to take it away?" questioned Ion.
He wants people to be aware that there is no service that comes to take people’s garbage away.
“We work towards making sure that public access remains for everybody and this is counter to that," he said. “A big part of that is education.”
Four Wheel Drive Association of BC does have a school program where they educate students about proper outdoor etiquette.
“Specifically, to nip this kind of thing in the bud. And we are hoping to continue expanding that,” he said.
The Ministry of Environment and Parks is also looking into the incident. This story will be updated once a statement is provided.
