Adopt-a-Beach volunteers work together to clean the Great Lakes. Photo: Dennis Belogorsky/Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Volunteers can adopt a Great Lakes beach this year with help from web-based training.
The Alliance for the Great Lakes program is in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota. It hopes to soon include New York.
Special events are scheduled throughout the region to increase public participation, but the majority of the program consists of participants volunteering on their own schedule.
The year-round program launched in 2003 collects litter and assesses beach and shoreline health, according to program manager Jamie Cross. Last year, 10,700 volunteers removed 31,295 pounds of trash. They also tested water for bacteria, measured air and water temperatures and recorded weather conditions. Volunteer groups vary in size — schools, businesses, families and individuals are all welcome.
Training is not required but highly encouraged, said Cross. Trained participants produce better data.
“We share our results and information with beach health officials,” Cross said. “Some of our data supplements their data. Accurate information helps us determine pollution sources and improve the Great Lakes.”
In-person training is available only in Illinois and Indiana. In 2009, the Alliance created YouTube videos to guide volunteers through the processes of unfamiliar tasks such as testing water quality and identifying pollution. Training to measure currents that move parallel to the shore is their most viewed video, with 648 views.
“We’re always looking for new groups to join as we expand,” Cross said. “A big part of the program is connecting people to resources — not only gathering data, but getting people engaged and involved.”
The Alliance organizes an annual event — the “world’s largest cleanup” — at which thousands of volunteers clean the Great Lakes coast. This year, the Adopt-a-Beach cleanup is 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 17. For more information and to sign up, contact your state coordinator.