Posted on November 9, 2021
Pictured above is Beannie, the mascot of Greystone Nature Preserve. She is overlooking a pile of litter collected on Sept 20, 2021 from an isolated cove on the Lake Erie shore. Although the beach length is only about 200 feet and is seldom visited by humans, it still contains a lot of litter.
All sorts of trash has washed up from other areas along the lake shore. Fourteen mylar balloons were recovered.
They are a real threat to wildlife and testament to the short sighted people who set them afloat without realizing that within an hour they will become litter.
Twenty-two plastic bottles and over fifty bits of styrofoam were recovered from the beach.
This cleanup is a part of the Great Lakes Beach Sweep, sponsored by The Ocean Conservancy. Every year volunteers collect and tabulate litter found along shores and beaches worldwide. Diane Clark and Bill Moran of Greystone Nature Preserve have been participating in the Great Lakes Beach Sweep for 25 years. Most of the events are lively and full of eager participants but this year it was safer to do the environmental clean up alone.
Pictured above is Beannie, the mascot of Greystone Nature Preserve.
Trisha Walker, a Senior Environmental Science Major at SUNY Fredonia and currently an intern for Greystone Nature Preserve. She tabulated all the litter found and recorded it on a data card for The Ocean Conservancy.
Greystone Nature Preserve is a not-for-profit environmental education facility located on the escarpment above Brocton. The organization is preserving 72 acres of habitat, while planting and nurturing native trees and shrubs. For safety reasons experiential environmental classes have been temporarily suspended.
The facility is still a haven for SUNY Fredonia interns who gain college credits while enjoying the great outdoors.
