Granville Island’s vital ecosystem fully recovered from industrial damage.

Our Island now sustains a thriving, healthy ecosystem, but this wasn’t always true. In the early part of the Twentieth Century, False Creek was an industrial sewer. Sawmills and machine shops dumped their toxic waste into the water. Chemical leaks were common.

By 1970, there was no sea life to be seen in the murky, dirty waters surrounding Granville Island. But nature has regenerated itself, with the help of developers and the city working together to remove toxic soils. Now we take pride in the nature on our Island, and we encourage our residents, businesses and visitors to do the same.

Sea, Air and Landlife of Granville Island

Today, the Island sports a healthy variety of flora and fauna. Here are some of the birds, fish and animals you might catch a glimpse of in your travels around the Island:

• Perch and other fish have come back to False Creek.
• Starfish and mussels cling to the piles.
• Harbour seals, otters, and even beavers can be seen diving through the waters.
• The occasional great blue heron can be spotted stalking the shoreline.
• Loons and cormorants fly above the choppy waters.
• Occasional visits by bald eagles from Vancouver’s North Shore.
• The man-made pond behind the Waterpark is now home to a community of turtles.

Granville Island Recycling Initiatives

Waste removal from Granville Island is administered and carried out by the operations department of the CMHC Granville Island Office. In an effort to be as efficient and environmentally sensitive as possible, a number of recycling initiatives have been introduced over the years, and continue to be refined and improved. They include: cardboard and newsprint recycling (approx. 50 times per year, average weight 4,500 kg), waste edible oil recycling, waste mineral and oil recycling, used paint and solvents, glass bottle and metal can recycling (full costs are absorbed by CMHC as part of the waste removal expense). As well, CMHC shreds its office paper and donates the strips to Circle Craft Co-op for gift packaging.

Ocean Concrete— A Model Tenant

Unlike other concrete manufacturers, Ocean Concrete has a 100% recycling policy. 2–5% of concrete produced is returned as waste. Ocean recycles this waste into large blocks, which are sold to local businesses for use as retaining walls and storage bins. These have become quite popular and Ocean makes and sells around 30–40 blocks per day. Ocean Concrete’s Granville Island plant is also the repeat winner of the Environment Excellence Award from the North American Ready Mix Concrete Association.