Courtesy of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium
“Picking up debris along Lake Erie is a rewarding and eye-opening experience,” says the aquarium's Tami Brown in a press release, noting that because the Metroparks does such a good job of cleaning Edgewater Park, volunteers mainly collect small straws, bottle caps, food wrappers and stirrers, items that could become microplastic pollutants in the lake.
Splash Fund leadership provides gloves, containers and guidance and, at the end of each session, Brown’s team records and analyzes the junk they have amassed. Over the course of four mornings, last year's volunteers helped the Splash Fund bag 386 pounds of trash that included bits of foam, glass and 7,686 pieces of plastic.
“Last year volunteers were truly alarmed by the number of cigarette butts (4,460) and cigar tips (4,382) we removed from the beach,” says Brown.
Splash Fund Adopt-A-Beach Cleanups will take place at 10 a.m. on May 18, June 15, July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 28 at Edgewater Park.
Sign Up for Scene's weekly newsletters to get the latest on Cleveland news, things to do and places to eat delivered right to your inbox.
