On Saturday, April 25, 2026, the Chicago Water Team partnered with the Alliance for the Great Lakes and the Truman College Environmental Club for our annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup at Montrose Beach. The Chicago Group has been cleaning the city’s largest beach twice annually for over 20 years.

Our location at Montrose Beach allows for participants to clean a variety of areas, including the beach, the park, and also around a natural area which attracts many migratory birds during the fall and spring seasons. We had student, church, and young professional groups participate.

This outing we had 95 folks attend and picked up 167 total pounds of litter from the beach during our two-hour event! Removing this litter creates a healthier environment for wildlife and reduces potential pollution to our drinking water. In addition to beautifying part of Chicago's shoreline and bringing folks together, we collect and catalog all the debris we find in order to help analyze the cleanliness of the world's water and beaches. The data from our cleanup and others is collected by the Alliance. 

If you're curious, you can read more in their report, Adopt-a-Beach: 20 Years of Great Lakes Litter Data. It includes analysis of 20 years of beach cleanup data that reveals the prevalence of plastic pollution on Great Lakes shorelines, with recommended solutions. Below is the data from our cleanup to show what we found at Montrose Beach.

The Water Team will be at it again this fall, so keep an eye out for that later this year!