Rotary District 7090, which includes Rotary clubs throughout Western New York and Southern Ontario, Canada, is conducting the Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup, a major international Rotary service project through June 1.

In support of this Rotary District 7090 project and Earth Day, the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville spread the word about its cleanup and led the local effort in Barcelona.

“We had a successful cleanup on a cold and dreary day. From 9 to 11:45 a.m. our group worked from Barcelona Harbor west to Moose Beach, and also along the east side,” said Jan Berkhouse, club president. “We are grateful to the volunteers who helped us with this service project.”

Westfield-Mayville Rotarians who participated were Helen Baran, Jan Berkhouse, Tom Berkhouse, Pete Bills, Barbara Fay, Mike Harrington and Steve Stratton. Volunteers who assisted during this cleanup were Benjamin Carlson and Christine Carlson of Boy Scout Troop 126 and Liz Dorman and Victoria Templeton of Chautauqua Rails to Trails.

Photo by Jan Berkhouse Barbara Fay and Steve Stratton collect a tire.

“The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup initiative is an effort that has grown from a District 7090 service project covering a small portion of Lakes Ontario and Erie to a multi-district plan to focus Rotarians’ attention to all five of the Great Lakes and streams and waterways feeding them,” said Frank Adamson, Rotary District 7090 governor. “Our goal is to make this the single largest cleanup event ever planned and coinciding with Earth Day 2021 on the Great Lakes Watershed. The Great Lakes contains almost 20% of the world’s fresh water and is arguably the largest source of fresh water on the planet. It borders eight states and two provinces, and it has 9,577 miles (15,323 kilometers) of shoreline. More than 22 million pounds (10 million kilograms) of trash and plastic pollution ends up in the Great Lakes each year. So far 15 Rotary Districts, hundreds of clubs, and thousands of Rotary volunteers have agreed to participate. We will be joining over one billion people worldwide working on projects together in their communities on Earth Day.”

Rotary District 7090 lists the Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup objectives as follow:

¯ improve the aesthetics of the Great Lakes by removing garbage from public areas and roadsides;

¯ reduce the amount of plastic and litter on our lands and in our waterways;

¯ remove waste that could potentially be ingested by pets and wildlife;

¯ provide an opportunity for public participation in collaborative activities;

¯ educate the public about the effects of littering, the importance of recycling, and to instill a sense of stewardship; and

¯ collect and report back to organizers cleanup metrics to track the impacts of all the cleanups.