Duluth's beaches got a cleanup a week ago and may get even cleaner next month. All throughout October, the Great Lakes Aquarium is organizing the 17th annual Beach Sweep, which aims to remove litter from Duluth's waterways to prevent it from entering Lake Superior.
The month-long effort to keep the Northland's beaches clean began on Sept. 22, when volunteers gathered at Park Point, Brighton Beach, Indian Point and Chester Bowl.
"There's a lot more trash out here than you might think," said Raleon Moore, a volunteer working on Duluth's Park Point.
Added Tim Mali, another volunteer: "It's a good way to get the public aware of their littering habits."
At Chester Bowl, close to 100 UMD students came out to help.
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"It's a great turnout," said John Lee, a senior molecular biology major who organized the Chester Bowl section of the cleanup. "It's really important since one way or another, all this trash ends up in the lake."
The impact that each volunteer can have is tremendous -- in West Duluth, two families alone pulled out more than 300 pounds of garbage.
A pair of binoculars, the remnants of a mop and a sleeping bag were among the biggest finds of the day on Park Point. But the biggest problem is tobacco-related products, particularly cigarette butts. Last year, more than 6,000 were found on the Lakewalk alone. Jennifer Olker, another volunteer at Park Point, said she had combed the same section of beach three times and still kept finding more cigarette butts.
She brought along her daughter, Willow, for the educational opportunity the Beach Sweep provides.
"This is the beach we swim at in the summertime," she said, "so we thought it would be a good learning experience to take the time to take care of it."
According to Andrea Crouse, who organized the event, one ingested cigarette butt is enough to kill a dog, and three are enough to cause serious health problems in young children. The effect on Lake Superior, where most of these cigarette butts and other litter eventually end up, is a serious environmental concern for the region.
As part of the International Coastal Cleanup, a worldwide effort by the nonprofit organization Ocean Conservancy to prevent trash from entering the marine ecosystem, the Beach Sweep also collects valuable data for use in focusing future cleanup efforts and helping educate the public. The data have been used to promote tobacco-free zones around Duluth's Lakewalk, and, more broadly, to push for legislation to help control the spread of litter into public waterways. The data provide snapshots of the health of the region's rivers, streams and lakes and can help target educational programs to raise awareness and prevent the buildup of
litter in the future.
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Crouse's hope is that the sweep, and the data gathered from it, can help change the way people dispose of their litter.
"The goal is that this creates a mentality in the community about what kinds of trash we are putting into the environment."
This year there have been unique challenges to cleaning up Duluth's waterfronts. The June floods that swept through Duluth dumped more litter than ever into rivers and streams and down to the shores of Lake Superior.
While the Sept. 22 event had a great turnout, crews are being organized by the Great Lakes Aquarium throughout the month of October. All tools are provided. Those interested in helping out can contact Andrea Crouse, beach sweep coordinator, Great Lakes Aquarium, at (218) 740-2003, or by e-mail at beachsweep@glaquarium.org .
