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Keep Our Beaches Clean and Healthy

Be one of the thousands of people that will help clean up their local beaches on September 19 as part of the Alliance for the Great Lakes annual September Adopt-a-Beach Event. Cleanups will take place in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Volunteers adopt a favorite stretch of shoreline and care for it by clearing away litter.

Open to individuals and groups, Adopt-a-Beach volunteers cleared nearly 51,800 pounds of trash from all eight Great Lakes states last year. Their reach is broader than cleaner shorelines, however. Many use their findings to make real-world changes for their beaches, writing letters to the editors of local publications or creating public displays of their findings. For others, beach adoption provides a hands-on lesson in citizen engagement for families, scouts and school groups.

The Alliance launched its first September Adopt-a-Beach cleanups in Michigan and Illinois in 1991 to coincide with the International Coastal Cleanup.

 

Dates and times for cleanups vary by location. Register online at GreatLakesAdopt.org. For more information, visit GreatLakes.org/SAAB.