Friends of Monona Bay participate in monthly cleanup effort

It’s a clammy summer morning, and a group of Madisonians, some clad in long sleeves, jeans and rubber boots, has assembled in Brittingham Park along the shores of Monona Bay to go over what sounds like a battle plan.

“Let’s get going,” a leader tells the troops, giving directions to different people. “This is counterintuitive but bear with us,” he says as he explains the plan of attack.

He gives one group a specific assignment.

“If you pick up trash along the way, you’ll never make it to John Nolan Drive,” he warns.

Armed with rakes and black garbage bags, the troops are off to pick up trash in Brittingham Park.

The monthly event, run by Friends of Monona Bay, is part of the group’s continued effort to keep Monona Bay clean. Volunteers have come out the second Saturday of every month since August 2005 to preserve Monona Bay, mainly through picking up trash.

“I think [Monona Bay] is a great resource that people take for granted,” said Madison resident Josh Weber, who comes to the cleanup regularly. “People trash [the lakes] a little bit—maybe unintentionally.”

Nina Emerson, shoreline cleanup coordinator for Friends of Monona Bay, founded the group in 2005 after participating in a Dane County lake cleanup.

“I was just horrified at how much trash there was,” Emerson said. “And I said, ‘We need to do this more often.’”

Friends of Monona Bay hasn’t missed a Saturday cleanup since. The group started counting the number of trash bags filled in January 2006, and by December 2012 the group had collected 1,002 bags of trash.

According to Emerson, the group has seen an overall decrease in the amount of trash in the bay.

“There are times when … you have to really work to find the trash,” Emerson said. “That tells me that we’ve really made a difference.”

But there is still trash to be collected every month, she added, noting that litter, such as straws and cigar tips, that Emerson believes comes from the Capitol Square, ends up in Brittingham Park.

“We all are affected by the water quality of our lakes,” Emerson said. “They’re what we have. We should be treating them and taking care of them as they are precious jewels.”

Dane County provides cleanup supplies to the Friends of Monona Bay through the county’s Take a Stake in Our Waters Initiative. For information about how to volunteer through a Take a State in Our Waters Initiative, visit takeastakeinthelakes.com.