CLEVELAND — "The only way we can keep using the beach is if we keep it clean,” said Michelle Carandang, the President and Founder of Keep the Lakes Great.
As the sun sets at Edgewater Park, nearly a dozen volunteers are going to work. This is Keep the Lakes Great, a non-profit focused on keeping our beaches clean, and free of trash. It all started 2 years ago, with an Instagram post, by local surfer Michelle Carandang.
"Whoever came up to Edgewater to clean with me for at least 30 minutes got free surf lessons. And from there I got so many inquiries," Carandang recalls.
The post garnered so much interest, Keep the Lakes Great took off, and now does 2 beach clean ups a month.
"We clean up beaches all the way from Lorain. So that includes Lakeview to the Spitzer Marina. We've also done Huntington Beach, Edgewater and Mentor Headlands as well," said Carandang.
And yes, put in enough volunteer hours, and you can get a free surf or paddle board lesson. Everyone high schoolers up to senior citizens took Michelle up on the offer.
"I bring the dog down here to Edgewater all the time. I love the place, so it's nice to clean up a little, come out and enjoy it,” said Jonathan Dujour, who volunteers with Keep the Lakes Great. “You know, if we all share a communal space, we all got to share the communal responsibility to clean it up"
This evening the team collected 24 pounds of trash. That Included micro-plastics, those plastic fragments less than 5 millimeters long, but very dangerous to the local ecosystem.
"That's the most consumable thing by, you know, all the creatures in the ecosystem. So like seagulls and fish around here," Carandang said.
For now, Keep the Lakes Great is focused on Lake Erie, but look for it to expand to others in the future.
"A couple of years from now, I'm really hoping that we're able to expand and set up different branches, like up in Michigan, Lake Superior, maybe in Chicago as well," stated Carandang.
If you are interested in volunteering, Keep the Lakes Great has another Edgewater Beach cleanup this Thursday, September 21, at 6:30pm. The dates and time of the clean ups are posted on the groups Facebook page.