CLEVELAND — Volunteers gathered at the dog beach in Edgewater Park on Sunday morning to keep Lake Erie great.
It's part of a series of monthly clean-ups hosted by Drink Local Drink Tap, a non-profit based in Cleveland that educates people about water issues not only locally, but around the world.
The clean-ups started in 2010 and since then, volunteers have picked up nearly 7,000 pounds of trash.
According to the EPA, out of all the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is exposed to the greatest stress from urbanization, industrialization, and agriculture.
It also gets the most discharge from sewage treatment plants.
The United States and Canada have an action plan for restoring and protecting the lake.
“With heavier storm events that we’ve been having or having the lake levels rise, stuff that’s been sitting on the bottom of the lake is getting turned up. In addition, more stuff is washing away from our neighborhoods to the lake, so its even more critical now to keep this area clean and this beach clean," Erin Huber, Executive Director of Drink Local Drink Tap, said. "In addition to all of that, so many more people are coming down to Edgewater Park over the last few years and that means more potential pollution, so we really have to one, educate each other and two, also show up and clean up.”
Drink Local Drink Tap is hosting six more beach clean ups throughout the summer. A list of dates can be found here.
