#MyBeachisYourBeach
“The Lake front by right belongs to the people… Not a foot of its shores should be appropriated by individuals to the exclusion of the people.” The Plan of Chicago, 1909
In a city of over 2.7 million inhabitants, Chicago beaches offer a glimpse into a natural and tranquil world of water, and provide scenic recreation and gathering space along the public lakefront. An unnecessary consequence of the popularity of Chicago beaches is the visible evidence of human enjoyment in the form of litter. On Tuesday, June 1 2016, DNAInfo reported that “Memorial Day revelers left the city’s beaches a garbage-strewn mess” while noting that “…they were squeaky clean by Tuesday morning.” Following a warm and festive weekend on the beaches, the City of Chicago and Chicago Park District were left with a major clean-up effort in response to many beach goers failure to use trash receptacles or take their trash with them. Clearly, littering is a preventable problem but the solution requires attitudinal change and personal responsibility on the part of beach goers themselves. Providing education and information about the effects of littering are a good start as is making trash disposal more convenient. Adding trash receptacles to beaches, providing personal trash bags, or employing “beach ambassadors” to remind people to dispose of trash are all ways to facilitate reductions in litter.
This summer, EAF will be assisting the Alliance for the Great Lakes and the Chicago Park District in their stewardship campaign to reduce marine debris from our beaches and change littering behavior among beach goers. The campaign will use innovative social marketing approaches to cultivate emotional and social connections to coastal resources—a departure from the “doom and gloom” tone frequently associated with environmentalism. This campaign will also connect to community interests and priorities, building upon lessons learned from the latest research in behavioral and environmental psychology that support the efficacy of positive, collaborative and inclusive engagement models. Using the hashtag #MyBeachisYourBeach, the campaign will employ social media for broader engagement.
EAF director Sabina Shaikh and Saul Levin, a rising 4th year student double majoring in geography and environmental studies will provide research assistance to the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Chicago Park District for various aspects of the campaign, including surveys of beach goers and community stakeholders to assess priorities, create awareness, encourage participation in the campaign and better understand how beach cleanliness affects overall beach experiences. Using Oak Street Beach as a case study, the team hopes to use the survey results and other engaging events and interventions to assess knowledge of the beach littering problem and identify the barriers to overcome to achieve litter reduction by beach goers themselves.