Headlands Beach State Park utilizes a machine to pick up large debris from the sand to keep things clean for visitors.
But small pieces of plastic, the ones that can present the biggest of problems, often are left behind.
A group of volunteers hit the beach Saturday to enjoy the mild breeze and sunlight while picking up those little, sometimes unidentifiable pieces of plastic.
Among the broken pieces from beach chairs and bottles are cigarette butts and other items you wouldn’t want to stumble upon when walking in the sand.
The Green Sanctuary Planning Team, an environmental education organization affiliated with Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirtland, has organized the beach cleanup with community members for the past four years.
Jerol Kennedy, a founding member of the group that began about 10 years ago, said picking up the plastic is one of the most important things to do to protect wildlife and its environment.
“I don’t think people in this area are aware of the seriousness of polluting our water, Lake Erie, almost everything we pick up is really tiny,” she said.
“We come and pick up small pieces of trash, mostly plastic — plastic in the lake and in the waterways and in the ocean is a major, major problem, people inland here don’t know a lot about that, and that’s our mission.”
The plastic presents a hazard to wildlife including fish, birds and turtles that will eat the small pieces, which can kill them, she said.
“People need to know what they’re throwing away and they need to know what to do to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way,” Kennedy said. “Plastic grocery bags are terrible, they’re a menace — I would like to see them banned. People should be using cloth bags, reusable cloth bags.”
Some grocery stores offer to take back used plastic grocery bags to have them recycled, which can help prevent them from ending up in the water, she said.
The cleanup coincides with the International Coastal Cleanup, which takes place around the world. In 2012, the international cleanup had more than 500,000 volunteers collect 10 million pounds of trash from coastal beaches and inland waterways in 97 countries and locations, according to the Ocean Conservancy website.
Nancy Kotowski of Newbury Township finally made it onto the beach for her first time Saturday. She said she has wanted to participate in the cleanup for a while, and decided this was the time to do it.
She was happy to clean up for the sake of the wildlife and the people who visit the beach, she said.
For more information, visit www.oceanconservancy.org.