Adopt a Beach this Summer with the Alliance for the Great Lakes
HOUGHTON – Great Lakes and Fresh Water week is coming to a close. And when many of us think of water, we think of the beach. Michigan is home to many beautiful beaches. The Alliance for the Great Lakes is asking for volunteers to help keep those coastlines clean. The organization makes it very easy for people to sign up for a cleanup event, or even host on themselves. The Adopt-a-Beach program is not as formal as the state’s Adopt-a-Highway program, but adopting a beach does come with a formal process to collect data.
When volunteers are out there, they’ll also have a data sheet from the Alliance for the Great Lakes. And as they’re picking up trash, they’re making tally marks, on what it is they’re finding. That’s what makes an Adopt a Beach cleanup unique, from just going to your local beach and picking up trash. – Juliann Krupa, Volunteer Engagement Manager, Alliance for the Great Lakes
Collecting information on the trash collected on beaches helps researchers understand the future health of the lakes. It can also help to determine how plastics and other trash end up on the beaches.
First of all, we can have this snapshot of what liter looks like here in the Great Lakes. Because there’s been a lot of research that’s been done on ocean plastic pollution, but less on the Great Lakes. And so this database is used by citizens, policymakers, and researchers around the region, in order to better understand the plastic pollution that’s here in the region. – Juliann Krupa
If you are interested in finding a beach cleanup event, or even hosting your own for your favorite spot on lake superior. Check out the Alliance for the Great Lakes online.The site has an interactive map showing clean up events each day, along with education resources about keeping coasts clean and pristine for everyone.
Volunteer Engagement Manager, Juliann Krupa, says that there are dedicated team leaders already throughout the Upper Peninsula. And typically the Alliance sees more events in the area around the fall. The organization is holding a virtual training for team leads in July. Details are still being finalized, but more information should appear on their website in the next couple of weeks.