NORTHERN MICHIGAN – Every day is Earth Day for the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, but this Friday, April 22, 2022, is a particularly great day to give back to our community.
The Watershed Council staff will start this Earth Day off cleaning up along on the Bear River in downtown Petoskey. The Bear River is incredibly important to the Petoskey area. Odawa tribes continue to use the river for foods and medicines, as they have for centuries. These waters were dammed for energy and lumber mills as Petoskey grew. Today, the water is also a stellar recreational resource. The Watershed Council has hosted years of cleanups on the Bear River, and we hope to do so again in the future. For now, staff plan to spend the morning cleaning trash from the riverbank in preparation for a beautiful spring. But that’s not the only way the Watershed Council plans to celebrate Earth Day!
Need some Earth Day evening plans? Have a question you’d like to ask Watershed Council staff? On April 22, we’ll be at Beards Brewery at 215 E. Lake St. in Petoskey from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Share your Earth Day stories and efforts to protect our freshwater for generations to come with the Watershed Council’s new executive director, Katie Wolf, and other staff members. While you’re there, join in Beards’s fundraiser for the Watershed Council by purchasing Copperstar Galactica IPA.
Northern Michigan is a place of vast and inspiring bodies of fresh water. There are so many ways to protect them: rain gardens, regular septic maintenance, keeping plastics out of our waters, and maintaining natural shorelines, to name a few. Some of those efforts can seem daunting, or designed just for homeowners. However, there are simple ways that just about anyone—whether a visitor or a resident, young or old—can protect Northern Michigan’s most valuable natural resource.
- Cut back or eliminate single-use plastics: Plastics pollution is a huge issue in the Great Lakes. mlive.com reported that around 22 million pounds of plastic waste enter the Great Lakes each year. Plastic waste can break down into smaller and smaller particles that are difficult to clean up. Aquatic animals consume the tiny bits of plastic, which can kill them. Reducing plastic waste with reusable water bottles and coffee mugs, tote bags for groceries, silverware instead of plastic utensils, drinks without straws, and reusable containers for leftovers instead of cling wrap is a great start and reduces pollution in our beautiful waters.
- Use compost for your landscaping needs: Compost is a great soil amendment that supports the health of gardens and lawns while soaking up stormwater. Since stormwater can carry excess fertilizer into water bodies, having a soil amendment that promotes plant health while reducing water pollution is a win-win. Emmet County Recycling is currently offering 50 gallons of compost (one quarter of a cubic yard) for five dollars if you bring your own buckets and shovels to 7362 S. Pleasantview Rd. in Harbor Springs during business hours.
- Ride your bike: Using bikes in place of cars reduces your carbon footprint and is great exercise. It’s a good way to explore all that Northern Michigan has to offer, from cycling through town for errands to mountain biking various trails. There’s also fat-tire biking in the winter months.
- Plant native trees and flowers: Here at the Watershed Council, we’re huge fans of using plants to care for our waters. Long-rooted native plants help stormwater soak into the ground, filtering out pollutants. If you’re headed to plant sales for your landscaping needs this spring, check out this list of native plants to purchase: www.watershedcouncil.org/native-plants.
- Install a rain barrel on your property: Rain barrels capture rainwater running off your roof and store it for use on gardens and lawns. This is another great way to slow down stormwater runoff, and using water from rain barrels on landscaping projects can help you save on your water bill.
Happy Earth Day! We hope you spend some time outside enjoying our beautiful waters, and that you join us at Beards Brewery in the afternoon.
