Flow Water Advocates recently teamed up with members of the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City for a community beach clean up of Acme Township Bayside Park. With six small teams, volunteers spread out across the sand, picking up everything from bottle caps to forgotten beach toys buried too deep in the sand. The five most popular items found were:
- 23 pieces of plastic waste that were not bottle caps, plastic bottles or plates
- 36 pieces of shredded paper
- 42 food wrappers from restaurants
- 84 pieces of plastic packaging
- 161 cigarette butts (That’s the equivalent of just over 8 packs of cigarettes!)
“On the heels of a busy week advocating for the protection of the Great Lakes at the state and federal levels, joining in on the cleanup was a welcome opportunity to connect with the waters that inspire me to do this work–and to meet an amazing community of folks jumping in to take care of our beaches so that we can all continue to enjoy them,” shares Kacey Cook, Flow Water Advocates’ newest staff attorney.
“Being new to Traverse City, I loved getting everyone’s tips on the best swimming beaches, bike trails, and coffee shops in the area as we walked the shore. We worked in teams to collect and track the trash we found. Alliance for the Great Lakes provides a checklist for volunteers to compile data on the kinds of waste that is populating the beach. This information is then used to inform policies aimed at protecting the lakes from pollution. We found everything from cigarette butts, to microplastics, to a squirt gun.
“We toted our full buckets back to the parking lots just as a beautiful purple squall blew in across the bay and rain drops began to fall.
“Our hour out on the beach reminded me of the opportunity we all have to take actions, big and small, to steward our shared public trust waters and beaches for the next generation –and how much fun it is to do that work together! I am already looking forward to the next cleanup.”
Operations Manager Stephanie Kimball, who aided in the process of organizing the cleanup with the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City shared, “Even with the rain, the morning was a great success, leaving Bayside Park cleaner and more pristine for all to enjoy. It was a wonderful.”
