By Iya Bakare
An innovative Adopt-a-Beach program is providing ways for Chicagoans to enjoy the cool waves of Lake Michigan and be eco-friendly at the same time.
Jen Khatchatrian, founder of Chicago Green Families, a Web site that promotes environmental awareness in Chicago, has been active in inspiring volunteers to join the beachfront program. "Our group is comprised of both families and individuals dedicated to putting their beliefs into action to encourage environmental activism throughout the city," she says.
To get involved in the program, groups adopt beaches and other shoreline areas within their community to monitor water quality testing and remove litter for water conservation throughout the city, says Frances Canonizado, outreach coordinator of the Alliance for the Great Lakes in Illinois and Indiana. Under the leadership of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Khatchatrian says her organization, with the support of the Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) of the Chicago Park District, formed a team to join the program this year and adopted the 12th St. Beach, which is on the South Side of the city, and Hartigan Beach, located on Chicago's North Side.
She says the Great Lakes make up about 20 percent of the world's fresh water and about 95 percent of the country's fresh water, which are reasons why she wants to educate people about the need for water conservation. Starting this month, Khatchatrian says her group meets the first Sunday of every month at 1 p.m. at the 12th St. Beach and every third Thursday of every month at 10 a.m. at the Hartigan Beach for a beach cleanup and picnic.
Several different teams clean up the suburban beaches too, including Glencoe, Lake Bluff and Waukegan. The Rotary Clubs of Evanston Lighthouse and Wilmette Harbor team up to clean their respective beaches each year.
All told, Illinois Adopt-a-Beach teams picked up over 187,000 pieces of trash, and rigorously itemized everything in this litter inventory. Everything from diapers (154), to syringes (43) to appliances (yes, 26 appliances) were found.
"I am truly inspired by the level of detail that goes into each beach cleanup," says Khatchatrian. "It is way more than just picking up trash, although we do that too by documenting every single piece of trash we collect. We test the pH of the water, temperature, wind directions and measure long shore currents. We also collect samples of water to grow E.coli in Petri dishes, which is very scientific and the kids really love it."
Adopt-a-Beach supports the Chicago Park District and other beach authorities that provide services to make the city's beaches clean and safe for the public. Through the collection of data, Khatchatrian adds the Alliance can trend information to help improve both water and beach conditions. In addition, the volunteers focus on picking up trash that machines cannot retrieve, such as cigarette butts, notes Canonizado.
Khatchatrian says her group is contacting local artists to create ways to turn the collected trash into art rather than a collection in a landfill. Canonizado says there are more than 3,000 volunteers participating in all Adopt-a-Beach program efforts in Illinois.
"Anyone can volunteer and become a team, whether it's two people or a corporation," says Canonizado. New volunteers can adopt other beaches throughout the city. For more information on how you can join, call Canonizado at 312-939-0838, ext. 228.
