We recently unveiled our 2024 data and impact summary for the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, an initiative with the Council of the Great Lakes Region, and it was our best year yet!
Findings showcase the initiative’s continued impact in protecting the world’s largest freshwater system by reducing plastic pollution through the piloting of plastic capture technology, collection of critical data, and community science and engagement. We have now successfully removed and characterized over 244,000 pieces of plastic and other debris from the lakes and surrounding waterways, with the most common items found being small hard plastic fragments, foam pieces, and cigarette butts. But we know that we’re removing much more plastic given that our technologies are operating even when data is not recorded.
The 2024 season saw increased use of mobile plastic capture technologies, such as PixieDrones — remote-controlled drones removing plastic from surface water — and BeBots — beach-cleaning robots, providing new insights into plastic pollution in nearshore environments and along shorelines. These mobile technologies revealed some new and unusual finds, including toys, fireworks, fishing and hunting gear, earplugs, and fake nails, many of which were collected by BeBots operating on public beaches and along shorelines.
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup’s efforts go well-beyond removing plastic from the environment. To-date, we’ve created opportunities for 14 local community coordinators, mobilized more than 1,200 volunteers at over 270 volunteer events to help quantify and characterize plastic debris collected by our devices, and engaged nearly 29,000 people at outreach events. We are also working with more than 140 partners and counting. These collective efforts directly contribute to building stewardship and ensuring long-term impact related to ending plastic pollution in our Great Lakes.