For Friday, Nov. 26, 2021

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1 – It’s already that time of year. Time to look back, at things like beach cleanups. 

2021 was the 30th anniversary of the Adopt-a-Beach program put on by the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

The group says that this year alone, volunteers hosted 719 beach cleanups on all five Great Lakes and in all eight states, with 7,883 volunteers gathering 25,280 pounds of litter.

Volunteers have collected 464,923 pounds of litter since 2003, when the Alliance launched an Adopt-a-Beach online database.

At each cleanup event, volunteers tally each item they clean up, and the information is then entered into the database.

Organizers say the biggest finding is that roughly 85 percent of the litter picked up during Adopt-a-Beach cleanups is made up fully or partially of plastic.

Volunteers have collected 8,282,907 pieces of litter since 2003, when the database was launched. 

Plastic, if not cleaned up, breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces that pollute drinking water and harm wildlife.

Food-related waste – from takeout containers to bottle caps – is among the top items found on Great Lakes beaches.

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2 – A state Council on Climate Solutions met this week to discuss recommendations to the governor on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Michigan. 

The council was created by executive order in 2020 and aims to help achieve the state achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Two online public listening sessions are coming up on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, with information on possible recommendations to the governor. 

Recommendations under consideration range from increasing energy efficiency in buildings and housing to establishing an electric vehicle incentive program, including new and used EVs, to increase the transition to EVs among the driving public.

See michigan.gov/climate to register for one of the public listening sessions and find more information. 

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Friday mornings in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM (listen). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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