Celebrate Earth Day: Volunteer at Miller Road Park Beach

Earth Day. It isn’t just for liberals and students anymore.

Earth Day 2013 is April 22 and Avon Lake is hoping residents step up and help beautify one of the city's most precious resources: the lakefront.

If you are looking for a volunteer activity you can do as a family, Avon Lake Municipal Utilities (ALMU) --which provides drinking water for more than 200,000 and treats the city's wastewater, has a service project--and a freebie, for you.

On Sunday, April 21, 2013, from 3 p.m.- 4 p.m., Avon Lakers will have a chance to do their part for the lake as ALMU employees host a family-friendly beach clean-up event at Miller Road Beach Park. Trash bags, water in coolers and adult work gloves will be provided, but participants are asked to bring their own work gloves if they have them, especially for their small children. All participants will receive a free, reusable, recyclable water bottle.

Lake Erie is the source of all Avon Lake’s drinking water, so everyone has a vested interest in keeping it clean, Todd Danielson, Avon Lake Municipal Utilities’ chief utility executive, said.

“Lake Erie is in a precarious situation,” Danielson said. "Asian carp. Zebra mussels. Summer storms carry farm fertilizer runoff into the lake, causing algae blooms. These are things most people can’t help with. But there are some things they can. Small bits of trash escape from trash cans on windy trash days and wash into the lake during the next rain storm. Chemicals used on lawns or cars washes down storm drains straight into Lake Erie. These are things that if people knew and thought about, they could affect real change. Everything we do at Avon Lake Municipal Utilities centers around the mantra 'healthy customers, healthy environment'—and part of our job is to help people see how connected those two things truly are.”

The event will be held rain or shine, but if the temperature is below 50 degrees that afternoon, the make-up date is May 5, from 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Same-day event status (including weather postponement) can be found on Avon Lake Water’s Facebook page.

About Earth Day

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, thanks to both a senator from Wisconsin and, unofficially, a certain burning river in 1969. The fire on the Cuyahoga was most alarming to scientists at the time (the Environmental Protection Agency did not yet exist) because of the river’s proximity to the Great Lakes, home to more than 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water. The stakes were high: Change was needed to ensure the health of the Earth’s water and air in order to secure the future of all living things.