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Planet CLE June challenge: Take time to clean up your community or local beach

Meteorologist Jason Mikell and other 3News staffers kicked off the challenge recently with a clean-up of Headlands Beach State Park in Mentor.

CLEVELAND — Every month as part of our year-long Planet CLE campaign, WKYC Studios is challenging its viewers to take some action, large or small, to improve our environment.

During the month of June, we’re encouraging everyone to help spruce up Northeast Ohio by taking part in a beach or neighborhood clean-up. Our own WKYC Studios employees kicked off the June challenge by spending a recent Saturday morning cleaning up trash at Headlands Beach State Park in Mentor, which we learned is the longest natural beach in Ohio.

Armed with gloves and litter bags, our group fanned out across the lakefront and picked up 33.5 pounds of trash. 

The Alliance for the Great Lakes coordinated details of the clean-up, and volunteers from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland joined 3News Meteorologist Jason Mikell, Digital Anchor Stephanie Haney, WKYC Studios General Manager Micki Byrnes and other station employees for the beach-combing project.

The most common items we picked up? Plastic pieces, cigarette butts, bottle tops, paper pieces and food wrappers.

Clean-up events help raise awareness of the crucial need for Northeast Ohioans to care for our community and especially our waterways, said Juliann Krupa, volunteer engagement manager for the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

“It’s estimated that every year, 22 million pounds of plastic enters the Great Lakes, a vital natural resource that provides our drinking water,” she said. “In our Adopt-A-Beach program, volunteers from across the region get together and make a dent in that number.”

So, what can you do to help keep our cities green and our lake blue? Here are some organizations that offer community clean-ups or provide tools and support to help you organize your own:

  • The Alliance for the Great Lakes hosts regular clean-ups of the entire Lake Erie shoreline; find a clean-up in your area on the Adopt-A-Beach website.
  • Register for a clean-up of Edgewater Beach in Cleveland, sponsored by the Drink Local Drink Tap organization, by clicking here. Or, if you’d prefer to organize your own clean-up, email russa@drinklocaldrinktap.org
  • Sign up with Cleveland Metroparks for a Community Service Day.
  • In Port Clinton, a beach clean-up is planned for June 11.
  • The Community Clean-up group of Lake County is always looking for volunteers to clean up Headlands Beach in Mentor on Wednesdays, 9 am-1 pm; clean-up materials will be provided. Go to the Community Clean-Up Facebook page to learn more.
  • United Way of Lake County is holding its annual Day of Caring on June 23, and volunteers are sought to work on various projects including general yard clean-up, planting, mulch spreading, weeding and trimming. Deadline for project submissions and volunteer applications is June 13.
  • The City of Stow is inviting residents to clean up trash on June 25, click here to register.
  • Wave Space Studio, a Cleveland arts studio, will be cleaning up a different Northeast Ohio beach every month this summer. Learn more here.
  • Cleveland residents who organize their own community clean-up can reserve the Clean & Green Trailer from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress.
  • Keep Akron Beautiful also offers a trailer for community clean-ups.

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