Earth Day Weekend Cleanups Sweep Duluth

DULUTH, Minn.– With Earth Day this past Thursday, Earth Week is now coming to a close. One Duluth organization has been offering tips and activities all week to help keep the planet clean, including a grand finale on Saturday.

Trash buckets and pickers were in full force on Saturday as 75 participants took part in a community cleanup effort in Lincoln Park led by Ecolibrium3.

“It seemed like earth week was an appropriate time to do a cleanup,” said Shannon Laing, Main Street Lincoln Park Coordinator for Ecolibrium3. “And so here we are.”

All volunteers had to do was give up an hour of their day to clean up an area around one city block. Picking up whatever debris they can.

“It’s sort of a kind of end of the week, let’s really get things going,” said Laing.

It was the first year of the big cleanup and Ecolibrium3 partnered with the city of Duluth Parks and Recreation Department and Waste Management. Duluth Grill and Dovetail Cafe served food for volunteers. Organizers say the cleanup is a great activity for the whole family.

“Grab a little extra bag with you and pick things up. Because, it’s an overused phrase but it takes a village,” said Laing. “It takes all of us to be aware. Because we got our big beautiful lake out there and we want to make sure it stays big and beautiful.”

One young west Duluth resident has been motivated to keep her community clean this earth day, even if it was for just an hour.

“You can make a lot of impact in just an hour,” said west Duluth Resident Erin McFarland, who was picking up litter with her daughter Adriana.

“My favorite part of coming out here today is picking up the trash,” said Adriana. “I like that because I love the city and the Earth.”

Six-year-old Adriana has been picking up trash along Superior Street.

“And we found a lot of those zipper things,” said Adriana.

“Zip ties,” said her mom.

“Yeah, we found a lot,” she replied.

Erin says she’s been inspired by her daughter’s passion for the planet.

“Hearing my daughter’s words that she just loves this earth and wants to keep it clean has inspired me that she took it upon herself at age six and it kind of woke me up that this is a family activity and we should be doing our part,” said Erin.

And it wasn’t just in Lincoln Park. Two residents were out at Lafayette square along park point beach picking up debris in the sand.

“It’s a lot of micro plastics so it’s kind of tough to find all of this stuff but you can find bigger cups here and there,” said west Duluth resident Mark McCormack.

McCormack loves coming to the beach to swim and surf the waters of the lake. He wants to keep the beach clean so everyone can enjoy the space for years to come.

“It’s our water source and people do lots of their extra-curricular activities out here and you don’t want a bunch of garbage around when you’re fishing or swimming,” said McCormack.