MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – From Ontario to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Great Lakes cleanup road trip is connecting communities across all five Great Lakes watersheds, organized by Great Lakes Great Responsibility.
The effort has brought shoreline cleanups to communities throughout the region, with its final stop at Founders Landing in Marquette today.
“We’ve got about 40 volunteers that are out cleaning the shoreline, and then this creek area over here, they’re trying to pick up as much trash as possible, and they’re counting how much trash they’re collecting as well to contribute to our Great Lakes, 1 million Challenge, which we’re trying to pick up a million pieces of trash in the Great Lakes watershed,” said Great Lakes, Great Resposibility founder Meag Schwartz.
Volunteers spent the day collecting litter and documenting the types of debris found along the waterfront. I found a bowl from Mainstays, found a bunch of googly eyes for craft projects, and a piece of rope,” said volunteer, Brooke Jansen.
Organizers say the effort is about more than picking up trash; it’s also about educating the public on the impact of harmful debris in the water.
“We have a big education pillar. We work with youth a lot to teach them not to litter, to be good stewards,” said Schwartz.
The road trip has cleaned up trash-strewn areas like Buffalo and Cleveland. Marquette, on the other hand, is much cleaner.
“Marquette is pretty clean, I would say. Marquette is very focused on leaving no trace. People up here are just in a different mindset than other places,” explained Schwartz.
Some people comb the beach; others, like Terry here, are a bit more thorough. He brought a robot submarine.
“I’m just keeping it planted on the bottom of the lake bed, and then just spinning the robot around looking for debris,” said Terry Pihlainen.
The nonprofit says data collected during the cleanups will be used to track pollution trends and support future environmental initiatives aimed at stopping trash before it reaches our lakes.
