Newsletter

The following article is from an archived newsletter. See our Shared Waters newsletter.

People Love the Great Lakes Because …

Jennifer Caddick
Water Matters - Young girl holding sign "I love the Great Lakes because..."

Many of the thousands of volunteers for this year's September Adopt-a-Beach cleanup faced strong winds and early morning showers on the designated morning of Saturday, Sept. 19.

As usual, most were undeterred.

The results are still coming in, but Jamie Cross, Adopt-a-Beach Program manager for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, says the cleanup is on track to be as successful as last year’s. That event saw some 7,343 volunteers pick up 25,251 pounds of trash from 277 shoreline locations in five Great Lakes states.

Tiny pieces of plastics — or microplastics — comprise a third of the litter Adopt-a-Beach volunteers collect each year, joining food-related and smoking-related items as the most commonly reported forms of debris on Great Lakes beaches. Credit: Alliance for the Great Lakes
Tiny pieces of plastics — or microplastics — comprise a third of the litter Adopt-a-Beach volunteers collect each year, joining food-related and smoking-related items as the most commonly reported forms of debris on Great Lakes beaches. Credit: Alliance for the Great Lakes

To celebrate these volunteers and their commitment to their beaches and shorelines — even if it means braving the elements some years — we asked them to share with us why they care. Specifically, volunteers were asked to photograph themselves holding up signs showing their answers to the question: "I love the Great Lakes because …"

Their responses, posted to our Facebook and Storify pages, tell the story of people’s love for this vast and beautiful body of water, so central to the lives of those who call this region home.

So, how and why do Adopt-a-Beach volunteers love the Great Lakes? Let us count the ways.

"Unsalted. No sharks!" posts one woman.

“I want to make sure it‘s there for our future,” reads a sign held by a little girl.

It's there for our future - Alliance for the Great Lakes
It's there for our future - Alliance for the Great Lakes

From two young women in Chicago: “Great view!"

A young couple on a beach celebrates, “That freshwater feeling."

“Peace and quiet,”  “sun and moon rises,” “kayaking” and “full of fish,” are other sentiments scrawled on the signs.

One man waxes poetic with his post: "Clean water. Clean land. Gotta love that beach sand.” 

Another raises eyebrows with this quip: “I get to go skinny dipping."

OK, so it takes all kinds. And we’re OK with that because our Great Lakes beaches and shorelines are there to be enjoyed by everyone and cared for by everyone: individuals, families, schools, community groups, scouting troops, religious groups and anyone else you can name.

The September cleanup — rooted in the annual International Coastal Cleanup in the U.S., Canada and throughout the world — is  simply a great way for people to show their passion for local beaches and shorelines. Or, in the words of one family:

“I love the Great Lakes because . . . this is our home."

This is our home - Alliance for the Great Lakes
This is our home - Alliance for the Great Lakes
Jennifer Caddick

Engagement Director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes

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