If you’re a Jimmy Buffet fan hoping to avoid blowing out a flip flop by stepping on a pop top, you might consider joining the Blossomland Parrot Head Club on Saturday, September 15th as they hit the beach at the Lincoln Township Park as part of the Regional September Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup that day both there and on other beaches across the region.
If you want to enjoy the fun of the mythical Margaritaville and pristine beaches it’s incumbent on all of us to pitch in from time to time to comb the beaches, collecting both beach litter and important data to track where all the junk comes from.
September Adopt-a-Beach is the largest annual day of action for the Great Lakes according to folks at the Alliance for the Great Lakes that helps spearhead the beach clean up processes here and around the Great Lakes. Thousands of volunteers join together to cleanup local beaches and collect data on beach litter. Last year more than 6,300 volunteers picked up more than 11,000 pounds of debris at more than 240 sites around the region. The result: cleaner and healthier Great Lakes beaches.
In addition to the Parrot Head team at Lincoln Township Park which will take place from 9am until 11am on the 15th, several families invite you join them at Rocky Gap Park in Benton Charter Township that evening from 5:30 until 6:30pm to clean the beach there.
Volunteers are needed for the September Adopt-a-Beach event. Participants on all five Great Lakes come from all walks of life, including individuals, families, schools, businesses and community groups.
There is also a clean up slated for the Berrien Street Beach at Union Pier from 9am until 11am that day. You can sign up to join any of those three clean ups or others that might be closer to you throughout the entire Great Lakes region by clicking the link below and registering to join.
http://www.greatlakesadopt.org
Beaches and shorelines in all five Great Lakes states are part of the Adopt-a-Beach program.
Volunteers will clean up local beaches and shorelines by picking up trash and recording their findings. The events are held as part of the International Coastal Clean-up, which is a global event.
Families at Rocky Gap beach have been leading and/or participating in these events for about 10 years now. When they began that process years ago, 41-percent of what they collected was plastic (such as plastic bags, bottles, food containers, six-pack holders, etc). That has shifted dramatically in the last three years. At a recent event fully 81-percent of the trash collected was plastic – driven largely by single-use plastic items (water bottles, straws, etc).
For those working the Rocky Gap clean up, you are encouraged to meet in the Rocky Gap parking lot. Organizers will provide rubber gloves, tracking sheets and garbage bags.
Elsewhere, organizers from the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup suggest you consider bringing a bucket or plastic bag from home to reduce the event’s environmental footprint.
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market is courtesy of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
