Great Lakes Great Responsibility, a litter clean-up organization that operates in northeast Michigan and the Great Lakes basin, has exceeded 333,000 pieces of trash collected, which is over a third of the organization’s goal.
Meag Schwartz is the founder of the movement and is responsible for updating the trash totals on the website. She said the goal was reached sometime last week during their downtown Alpena cleanup event.
“That's way more than I ever could have done on my own,” she said. “I appreciate all the volunteers and partnerships that have come along the way and it's been really fun.”
Schwartz said that Great Lakes Great Responsibility’s anchoring movement is their #GreatLakes1Million Challenge, where volunteers are aiming to pick up one million pieces of trash out of the Great Lakes. Now a third of the way there, she hopes the organization can expand the project by working with local recycling groups and installing self-serve beach cleanup stations to encourage individuals to take action.
Schwartz created the movement in 2020 and said it was COVID-19 friendly since it was primarily individual-based. People were encouraged to take action on their own with cleanups. Once the pandemic ended, she said that the organization evolved and started fostering more organized cleanup events.
“We're able to get together now with larger groups of volunteers to take action collectively, which is really great for synergy and motivating people together,” she said. “We still have individuals that just do cleanups on their own as well, and I think that's just as impactful.”
This year, Schwartz said their efforts will be focused in northeast Michigan as it’s where she resides. Their next event will be on June 22 in Petoskey, where volunteers — or as the organization calls them, Great Lakes Guardians — will be helping clean up Bear River.
Residents can RSVP for the event or learn more about the organization through their website, greatlakeslove.org.
