If you drive onto or off I‑94 at 10, 11, or 12 Mile Roads, St. Clair Shores, and see a noticeably cleaner exit ramp, credit the St. Clair Shores Waterfront Environmental Committee (WEC) and its many volunteers.
This year’s cleanup effort began in early May and runs till Oct., with WEC volunteers hauling away litter from I‑94’s on‑ and off‑ramps. “It’s a labor of love,” Coordinator Erin Liberty asked why she does it. This labor of love project has been going for approximately 23 years strong.
Typically, six to ten volunteers gather each month, collecting roughly 10 – 20 bags of trash from the freeway’s ramps.
You never know what you will find when picking up roadside trash. Vice Chair and St. Clair Shores resident Sharon Khouri found parts to a Monopoly game when she was cleaning up 11-mile Road ramp. John and Julie Koleszar found a 50-dollar bill, monopoly money, and many water and pop bottles.
This year’s final freeway cleanup drew a larger crowd—about 15 volunteers, double the usual turnout—as the committee wrapped up its seasonal work.
If you feel that you might have missed the exit ramp, to help out, you still can. Next weekend, Sunday, Oct. 18, the WEC will be hosting SCS Surf-n-Turf Cleanup. Volunteers will be cleaning up the shoreline of St. Clair Shores in two different ways. One way is the surf way: volunteers will be on paddleboards cleaning areas along the shoreline that are difficult to access from land. The other way, the turf way, volunteers on foot will assess and clean the shoreline areas (trash along the water’s edge and in the rocks).
