Mike Carlson was one of several dozen people who participated in the Grand Marais Harbor Beach Sweep held on Earth Day. Dave Tersteeg, Grand Marais Recreation Park manager, kept a tally of all the garbage collected to send into a national database, which keeps track of the thousands of beach sweeps that take place on April 22.
Following the March for Science last Saturday at Harbor Park, Grand Marais Recreation Park Director Dave Tersteeg asked if there would be any interested parties who would like to take part in the annual Grand Marais Harbor Beach Sweep. It turns out 29 signed up with five more online signatures. “And I bet we had a dozen more participants who didn’t sign-in,” added Tersteeg.
When the volunteers completed their two-hour sweep, they had collected 51.65 kg (that’s 113.63 pounds for you non-scientists) of garbage. Some 2,676 cigarettes butts were picked up and counted, but Tersteeg said just as many were probably collected but not included in the tally.
The most unusual items included a (live) shotgun shell, crushed ear buds, unused mascara brush, pair of matching gloves, a wave tossed electrical insulator, soccer-ball-head man action figure, and a tablecloth.
Tersteeg said prizes were awarded to a “lovely family of four who found the soccer-ball-head man (most peculiar), a young couple who counted 721 butts (most cigarette butts), and the Nordic Nature Club for heaviest collection of trash – in addition to several bags of trash, these girls also hauled back a water-logged timber beam with rusty spikes protruding. Wow!”
Voyageur Brewing provided complimentary soup throughout the event.
“Thank you all for your roles in making last Saturday’s beach sweep such a success – it was a total team effort, and we all won,” Tersteeg said, adding, “What a wonderful way to celebrate Earth Day!”
Leave a Reply