On September 15, the City of Gary’s Green Urbanism Department is hosting a beach cleanup and Urban Waters Awareness day from 9:00am-noon. Volunteers are needed at Marquette Park Beach to partake in cleanup efforts to help protect water quality in Gary and Lake Michigan. The Alliance’s Adopt-a-Beach™ program is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, the world’s largest shoreline cleanup. Volunteers will engage in citizen science, to help inform research and policy efforts to protect our water resources.
Participants may register as an individual or on behalf of a team. A team is any group of individuals acting together -- such as a business, school, civic organization, or an informal team of friends or neighbors. “We are trying to recruit hundreds of volunteers to Indiana beaches to pick up litter and participate in citizen science on that day,” said Erica Burt from Alliance for the Great Lakes. Free t-shirts and refreshments will be provided to volunteers.
At the same time as the beach cleanup, the Green Urbanism Department and Stormwater Management District are hosting an Urban Waters Awareness day, which will take place at the Marquette Beach parking lot. There will be water quality demonstrations, rain barrel raffles, environmental education booths, giveaways and more. The City of Gary is part of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. The Partnership is committed to working with local communities to restore waterways and reconnect people in underserved communities with their rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers, estuaries, bays and oceans.
September Adopt-a-Beach™ & Urban Waters Awareness Day Event Information
What: September Adopt-a-Beach™ Cleanup
Where: Marquette Park Beach
When: Sept. 15, 2012
Who: You! Individuals, families, schools, community, scouting and religious groups
Why: Have fun giving back to the places you care about. The Great Lakes shoreline and beaches are right in our back yards. The information gathered is used to make positive changes for our Great Lakes.
September Adopt-a-Beach™ event Registration
To register for the beach cleanup, please go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ website at www.greatlakesadopt.org. For more information or to register as an Urban Waters Awareness day vendor, please call the City of Gary’s Green Urbanism office at 219.882.3000, or email Education and Outreach Coordinator Brenda Scott-Henry bhenry@ci.gary.in.us.