Adopt-a-Beach in Our Communities 2010 Program Results Indiana
What s ahead? Who is the Alliance for the Great Lakes 2010 Adopt-a-Beach TM results Indiana Adopt-a-Beach results What can you do
Who is the Alliance for the Great Lakes? We are a group of volunteers and professionals working for clean water throughout the Great Lakes.
Our mission is to: Conserve and restore the world s largest freshwater resource using: Policy Education Local Efforts Ensuring a living resource for future generations of people and wildlife.
The Adopt-a-Beach Program Today the program is a year-round opportunity for families, schools, businesses and community-based groups to conduct litter monitoring and water quality testing along the Great Lakes shorelines.
2010 Adopt-a-Beach Results: All States (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) State Estimated number of volunteers Total hours Wages in volunteer logged by participation (based on volunteers state minimum wage) ILLINOIS 4809 10,954.5 $90,374.63 INDIANA 1080 2665.25 $19,323.06 MICHIGAN 2663 7,759 $57,416.6 MINNESOTA 13 20 $123 OHIO 492 1,610 $11,753 WISCONSIN 1700 7,210.5 $52,211.60 2010 Totals 10,757 30,210 $231,423.60
2010 Data Sets Completed by Adopters Routine Visit Form: Adopters collect information on beach health using science-based observations and testing. (Aligns with U.S. EPA Sanitary Survey Form.) Litter Monitoring Forms: Adopters collect detailed information on litter removed from beaches. State Litter Monitoring Forms ILLINOIS 154 Routine Visit Forms 160 INDIANA 45 97 MICHIGAN 301 154 MINNESOTA 4 4 OHIO 66 75 WISCONSIN 105 108 2010 Totals 675 598
2010 Adopt-a-Beach Litter Results: Top Ten Items All states (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) Cigarette filters Cap & lids Food wrappers & containers Straws and stirrers Cigar tips Plastic bags Cups, plates, eating utensils Plastic beverage bottles Glass beverage bottles Beverage cans 129,697 42,990 35,222 21,922 21,892 16,731 13,115 12,025 10,819 10,312
2010 Adopt-a-Beach Litter Results Top Ten Items Indiana by County Item name Cigarettes filters Indiana Item name Lake Item name LaPorte Item name Porter 17,901 Cigarettes filters 4,836 Cigarettes filters 6,288 Cigarettes filters 6,777 Caps & lids 3,686 Food wrappers & containers 1,534 Food wrappers & containers 1,171 Caps & lids 1,197 Food wrappers & containers 3,535 Caps & lids 1,456 Caps & lids 1,033 Food wrappers & containers 830 Straws & stirrers 2,035 Straws & stirrers 955 Straws & stirrers 615 Straws & stirrers 465 Cups, plates, eating utensils, etc. 1,540 Cups, plates, eating utensils, etc. 926 Beverage cans 485 Beverage cans 387 Plastic beverage bottles 1,449 Plastic beverage bottles 808 Plastic beverage bottles 368 Cigar tips 296 Balloons 547 Cups, plates, eating utensils, etc. 366 Plastic beverage bottles 273 Beverage cans 1,387 Plastic bags 954 Beverage cans 515 Plastic bags 350 Cups, plates, eating utensils, etc. 248 Balloons 911 Plastic bags 404 Cigar tips 336 Glass beverage bottles 231 Cigar tips 909 Cigar tips 277 Paper bags 306 Plastic bags 200
2010 Adopt-a-Beach Litter Results: By percentage All States (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) Indiana Food-related 42% Smoking-related 50% Smoking-related 43% Food-related 47% Personal hygine products 1% Other items 7% Balloons 2% Other items 5% Balloons 2% Personal hygine products 1%
Animals Entangled in Debris IL Lake Waukegan North/Municipal Beach bird fishing wire IL Cook Oak Street Beach bird orange fencing IL Cook 63rd Street Beach/Jackson Park Beach herring gull fencing IL Lake North Point Marina Beach seagull nylon rope IN Lake Marquette Park Beach fish debris IN Lake Marquette Park Beach goose fishing line MI Ottawa Tunnel Park fish string MI Oceana Driftwood Association - Private sea gull balloon string MI Charlevoix Ferry Beach seagull fishing line OH Cuyahoga Euclid Beach - Cleveland Lakefront State Park bird net WI Racine Racine Zoo Beach - North of Goold Street seagull fishing line
Actions Taken by Adopters Buffington Harbor Beach team leader is an educator and shared her Adopt-a-Beach experience with her students Porter Beach team leader contacted the police office to make them aware of illegal dumping occurring behind the ravine area Whilhala County Beach team leader provided the results from their Adopt-a-Beach visit to the county Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore team leader contacted the parks department to let them know of an overflowing trash receptacle Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk team leader discussed beach issues with girl scouts and encouraged them to talk with others Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk team leader discussed the importance of stewardship with their students and encouraged them to talk with friends and family about the problem with litter on beaches.
Actions Taken and Suggested Improvements Positive actions taken by beach health officials to improve beach health: Indiana Dunes State Park has undertaken a restoration project to help improve beach health. Through the project they will continue to monitor beach health to ensure the project is making a positive impact. Areas of improvement needed: Continue to monitor beaches to assist in identifying and eliminating potential pollution sources from beaches. For the most part trash containers are well-maintained in Indiana but in some instances volunteers found no trash cans or overflowing trash cans. More trash cans could have lids on them to keep trash in the cans during windy days and to keep away from wildlife. Make efforts to reduce the amount of food waste left on beaches in order to decrease the bird population. Bird waste, in particular seagull waste, contains E. coli bacteria which can contribute to beach closures.
Where is the Alliance going from here? Working to get more adopters involved in more Great Lakes communities Working with communities that don t have the capacity to complete beach health assessments Improving our electronic online data entry system to better track and share data Improving our volunteer training efforts to ensure accurate data collection
Get involved 1. 2. 3. 4. Become A Member Adopt-a-Beach Tell Your Friends & Family About Us Get the Alliance s electronic newsletter and action alerts It's fast and easy and secure at: https://www.greatlakes.org/membership
Adopt-a-Beach Questions? Want to register? Contact us: In Indiana: Frances Canonizado, fcanonizado@greatlakes.org, call 312-9390838 ext. 227 or visit www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach For other states: adoptabeach@greatlakes.org