Great Lakes

Beach Sweep with Chicago RedEye

Special thanks to the RedEye Staff including green blogger Supriya Doshi and our dedicated volunteers for participating in last Saturday's beach sweep at North Avenue Beach.  We had beautiful crisp fall weather up until the last 20 minutes when the rain started pouring!

With about 55 volunteers we cleaned up 79 pounds of garbage and 79 pounds of recyclables!  We scoured the beach to find more than 3,400 cigarette butts and a variety trash: 82 plastic bags, 565 plastic bottle lids, 3 batteries, 216 food wrappers, 33 balloons and other random items. 

After the sweep, a volunteer wrote back that she now notices every cigarette butt on the sidewalk while walking to work downtown.  "It's tempting to pick up every one of those cigarettes because I know they might end up in the lake!"  It's true that beach sweeps are a great way to recognize the connection between our actions and the lakes!

Sign up for our last beach sweep of the season on Friday October 23rd by emailing Listentoyourlakes@sheddaquarium.org.

-Posted by Elizabeth

Pizza Man Loves Lake Michigan

Our friends Joe, John and Marty from Aurelio's Pizza stopped by 12th Street Beach to help keep our waterways safe and clean.  Twenty Shedd Aquarium employees and several volunteers from St. Paul's youth Group collected 101 pounds of garbage and properly disposed of 41 pounds of recyclables.  Plus, we picked up 200 cigarette butts which are dangerous for birds and young beach goers. 

A special appearance from Pizza Man was an extra surprise for the Great Lakes conservation team and our hardworking volunteers!  Though Pizza Man did not do much in the way of cleaning he certainly helped keep our energy levels high with lots of delicious Aurelio's pizza!

Don't know who Pizza Man is??  Watch the video to find out!

--Posted by Elizabeth, conservation

World Ocean's Day

Last year, the United Nations designated June 8 World Ocean’s Day, creating an annual opportunity to raise global awareness of the challenges facing our oceans today and to instill a sense of duty in all of us to care for the world’s water.  Appropriately, the theme of World Ocean’s Day this year is “our oceans, our responsibility,” calling on residents living in the Midwest, Southwest, Great Lakes region or anywhere around the world. 

Shedd Aquarium’s Great Lakes conservation team generally finds more than 650 pounds of garbage and recycling plus an additional 2,100 cigarette butts in a summer season on the beaches of Lake Michigan.  According to the Ocean Conservancy, volunteers around the world collected 11,077 diapers in the Philippines, more than 19,504 fishing nets in the United Kingdom and more than 1.4 million cigarette butts in the United States during the 2008 International Coastal Clean Up.  Near and far these statistics tell us it is time to take action for a cleaner tomorrow.

Whether you live near Lake Michigan or a prairie in Kansas, please properly dispose of wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles and any debris that can blow into our waterways.  Your small actions have large consequences; make them positive.

Posted by Cheryl Mell, Conservation

Native Gardening Tips

Planting season has begun! If you are planning your garden this year here are four good water conservation tips to keep in mind:

• Conserve water – a healthy lawn only needs one to two inches of water per week.

• Minimize evaporation by watering your lawn or garden during the early morning hours, when temperatures are cooler and winds are lighter.

• Disconnect your downspout and direct it toward landscaped areas.  Or try catching rain in a rain barrel or cistern for later use.

• Consider a porous design for your garden path.  This allows water to reach the underlying soil and replenish groundwater.

Christine, horticulture 

Protect your pastime

At Shedd, we have a special relationship with the creatures inhabiting the Earth’s waters. Even the smallest amount of mercury can be deadly to fish – and anything that eats them. In 1996, we took a first step in eliminating mercury through a lighting retrofit. By changing the kind of fluorescent tube lights that we use, we eliminated more than 61 grams of mercury, or the equivalent of 87 thermometers’ worth of the toxic substance, building-wide. The current tubes that we use, although ecofriendly, still contain trace amounts of mercury, so we dispose of burned-out lights through a company that recycles them within our specifications. Since 2002, we’ve prevented a further 11 thermometers’ worth of mercury from contaminating a landfill or as much as 16 acres of water.

I grew up in a small town and used to walk to a pond to go fishing. I just caught little sunfish and bluegills, but for a kid, it was a thrill. Wouldn’t it be a shame if kids today were deprived of this childhood ritual because the water or the aquatic life in their local pond was contaminated? By recycling these fluorescent tubes – and getting others around me to participate as well – I feel that I’m looking out for the future of our environment and for the future of those kids, wherever they may go fishing!

-- Posted by Susan, facilities

Great Lakes on the big screen

"If you could take everyone on this continent on an expedition from one end of the Great Lakes to the other, you would change the way that they look at these natural treasures."

That was the thought behind Canadian film producer David Lickley's movie Mysteries of the Great Lakes playing now at Imax and Omnimax theaters around the basin.  I recently saw this movie at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and absolutely loved it.  It was incredible to see footage of ship wrecks, caribou in the wild and the beautiful bluffs of Lake Superior.  Watching this movie made me proud to live in the Great Lakes region.  I give the film two thumbs up!

For teachers, the film has an educator's guide to use after your students see the movie.  Check it out!

--Posted by Elizabeth, conservation

My Quick Energy Fix

I noticed that I was wasting lots of energy by allowing my electronics to go into "sleep mode" when I didn't need them so the easiest thing I did to green my home was purchase three surge protectors for all of my electronics.  Every item that requires an outlet is hooked up to a surge protector so that I can turn everything off when not in use.   

My motivation was sparked by global warming and my desire to slow our dependence on fossil fuels but a lower energy bill has been a nice side benefit!

Posted by Nicole, conservation

Zero to Sixty...

...eventually. 

One simple thing I will do this year is drive slower.  I will be easier on the gas pedal when the traffic light turns and obey the speed limits on the highway.  This simple action will reduce the carbon emissions I create and allow me to stay away from the gas station longer.  I encourage everyone to give it a shot!

Posted by Sandy, conservation 

Salmon spawning in unusual place

According to the Gary Post-Tribune, this November marks the 20th annual return of Chinook salmon to a wastewater treatment plant in Indiana for the purpose of spawning.  Many are shocked and surprised that a wastewater treatment plant would be the spot these salmon choose for spawning each year.  An added surprise comes when you see how the fish get into the plant.  Salmon must swim up a 200 foot drain pipe that spits out 15 million gallons of water per day.  That is a tough task!

Shedd's senior aquarist in the local waters gallery, Kurt Hettiger, visited the site several years ago to see if the rumors were true.

"Sure enough," said Kurt.  "I spotted the Chinook salmon in what seemed to be a small oasis of fish in the plant.  I was completely surprised and happy to hear that the conditions were clean enough to allow this spawning to go on each year." 

Kurt went on to mention that he went back a second time just to make sure the first visit wasn't a fluke.  "Sure enough, I saw them again," said Kurt.

Listening to Your Lakes on the radio

Today's blog was written by Elizabeth, Great Lakes conservation coordinator

Just to clear things up, Lake Michigan did not conduct any interviews over the radio waves as the title of this blog suggests.  But a representative spoke on behalf of these magnificent bodies of water that desperately need our help.

Earlier this year, Melanie Napoleon, Director of Great Lakes conservation, spoke with Karen Williams of Clear Channel radio WNUA.  The two ladies chatted about the Great Lakes and why it is important to protect this wonderful natural resource. 

At one point Melanie mentioned the four threats facing the Great Lakes, "pollution, invasive species, water over-use and loss of habitat for wildlife." Learn more about these threats facing the Great Lakes and what you can do to help: Download Melanie Napoleon talks about the Great Lakes-Shedd