The summer months bring millions of visitors to the shores of the Great Lakes, and many of them leave behind a great deal of trash when they’re done. Dennis Takahashi-Kelso of Ocean Conservancy says it can have a major impact on an important resource. He says that trash can harm wildlife, pollute the water, and pose an economic risk to industries that rely on clean water.
Volunteers in Wisconsin will be among many people worldwide working this weekend to restore the natural beauty of those waterfronts. Takahashi-Kelso says it’s the 25th anniversary of the group’s international coastal cleanup, the largest volunteer effort in the world to remove trash from waterways and shorelines around the globe.
Several clean-up locations are going on along the Lake Michigan and Superior shorelines in Wisconsin. Takahashi-Kelso says you can easily find a place that needs your help through the Ocean Conservancy website.