Equipped with blue latex gloves, 30-gallon trash bags and grabber tools, dozens of volunteers spent Sunday afternoon canvassing rivers in Michigan’s capital region.
The large cleanup event was the latest by Michigan Waterways Stewards, a conservation group that has become a force for removing litter from rivers locally and around the state over the last few years. Since November 2022, the group has organized over 270 stewardship projects, clearing more than 200,000 pounds of litter.
The Waterways Stewards host events by partnering with groups, often student organizations, to pull trash and debris from in and around rivers. Sunday’s event was in partnership with Michigan State University’s Sigma Kappa sorority and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Volunteers concentrated their efforts along the Grand River, riverside parks and the Lansing River Trail.
“We care about the earth and our impact on the environment around us,” said Maddie Elkow, a Sigma Kappa member who helped coordinate the partnership. “I think it’s really sad to see garbage everywhere and people not caring.”…