The BeBots and Pixedrones will be deployed to Olander Park near Toledo, and then Hinckley Reservation, North Coast Harbor, Fairport Harbor Beach of the Cleveland area.
The post Beach cleaning robots are coming to Lake Erie first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/12/26/beach-cleaning-robots-are-coming-to-lake-erie/
By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
America needs to rethink and reduce the way it generates plastics because so much of the material is littering the oceans and other waters, the National Academy of Sciences says in a new report.
The United States, the world’s top plastics waste producer, generates more than 46 million tons (42 million metric tons) a year, and about 2.2 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) ends up in the world’s oceans, according to the academy’s report.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/ap-science-report-plastic-oceans/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Emilie Appleyard, Great Lakes Echo
Artists in the Great Lakes region are taking trash and turning it into art.
Dave Matsen, a retired professional photographer from Ludington, Michigan, found inspiration from his garbage at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/great-lakes-artists-trash-art/
Watershed cleanups are popular ways of dealing with local plastic pollution, but once large plastic trash disintegrates into microplastics, they're nearly impossible to pick up.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/plastic-debris-great-lakes-drinking-water-food/
Microplastics act like a chemical sponge, soaking up contaminants such as persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/05/chemical-impact-microplastic-pollution/
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia and three other municipalities in Pennsylvania sued the state Wednesday over what they say was a covert abuse of legislative power to block local bans or taxes on plastic bags that retailers give out to customers and, they say, end up as pollution and litter.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-pennsylvania-court-plastic-bag-bans/
When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office in January 2019, she immediately put a spotlight on the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline and started the process that would eventually lead to her ordering it shut down.
In her 2018 campaign, Whitmer also pledged to remedy the inequities related to water withdrawal issues, specifically a Nestle Waters case being fought by grassroots advocates that originated in the administration of former Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/pipelines-and-plastic-bottles-michigan-advocate-focuses-on-line-5-and-nestle-bottled-water-issue/
Water conservation advocacy groups in Michigan expressed outrage over the state’s recent dismissal of their appeal of the decision allowing Nestle Waters North America to increase the amount of groundwater it was withdrawing for bottled water.
Nestle received the greenlight for additional withdrawals in 2018 under the administration of former Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/dismissed-michigan-advocates-outraged-by-bottled-water-decision/
An estimated 9,887 metric tonnes (22 million pounds) of plastics make their way into the Great Lakes every year. Now a new project aims not only to suck out some of that plastic but stop it from getting into the lakes in the first place.
It began last summer with Toronto Harbour’s installation of three Seabins – devices that look like trash cans in the water but behave like vacuum cleaners, said Christopher Hilkene, CEO of Pollution Probe.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/seabins-trap-plastics-great-lakes-canada/
Canada took the next step in its effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030 last week when it announced a ban on certain single-use plastic items that its environmental protection and policy agency says are not often recycled.
The ban includes check-out bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery and foodware items, according to a press release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/canada-zero-plastic-waste-toxic-ban/
An array of more than 80 marine-debris-turned-art works will be making another Great Lakes stop, adding a lake sturgeon sculpture when it’s installed at a Wisconsin site next year.
Made entirely of plastic trash, these larger-than-life figures have realistic designs. They come as part of the traveling exhibit, Washed Ashore, which aims to educate people about plastic pollution.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/09/trash-fish-marine-debris-sculptures-great-lakes-aquariums-museums/
By Jessica Heiges, University of California, Berkeley and Kate O’Neill, University of California, Berkeley, The Conversation
is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
COVID-19 is changing how the U.S. disposes of waste. It is also threatening hard-fought victories that restricted or eliminated single-use disposable items, especially plastic, in cities and towns across the nation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/covid-19-single-use-plastics/
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a recent briefing on Philadelphia’s coronavirus response with an unusual request for residents: Be careful what you flush.
Between mid-March, when the city’s stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in Philadelphia had experienced clogs from face masks, gloves and wipes residents had pitched into the potty, Kenney said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/06/ap-wipes-and-masks-sewers-storm-drains/
