MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Over the next few years, beachgoers in the U.P. might be able to spot a new inclusion along the shoreline. The solar-powered Beach Robot, or ‘BeBot’ is part of a high-tech effort to fight plastic pollution across the Great Lakes, and now it’s Lake Superior’s turn to experience this technology.
“Previously, this BeBot was at the Tip of the Mitt Watershed around in the Petoskey area,” said SWP Special Projects Coordinator, Kathleen Henry. “Now we will have the BeBot up here in the Upper Peninsula for the next few seasons.”
This cleanup initiative comes from a cooperation between the Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP), the Council of the Great Lakes Region, and TC Energy.
It’s estimated that up to 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes every year, polluting waters, harming wildlife, and bringing high-costing cleaning efforts. With this technology, SWP is able to uncover potentially years of beach pollution.
“It gathers the material or debris that we wouldn’t necessarily be able to capture if we were just walking and picking up debris,” said Henry. “We’re seeing a lot of cigarette butts, plastic bottle caps, film from candy wrappers or chip wrappers.”
The debris found through this process is separated, before data is collected and sent out.
“We have some organic material that we separate, and then we go into a waste characterization, where we sort what we’re finding, and then we share that data with the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup,” said Henry.
In the near future, the Superior Watershed Partnership plans to make stops with the BeBot throughout the Upper Peninsula.
“We’ve done a few BeBot cleanups in McCarty’s Cove, but we are trying to bring the BeBot around throughout the Upper Peninsula in some coastal communities, so be on the lookout,” said Henry.
For more information about this initiative, visit the Superior Watershed Partnership’s Facebook Page or website.
