Volunteers Make Waves on Armour Beach Cleanup Day

Illinois Institute of Technology’s Armour College of Engineering teamed up with the Alliance for the Great Lakes through its Adopt-a-Beach initiative to help clean the beach and shoreline along 31st Street Beach in Chicago. On August 24 more than 50 students collected 82 pounds of debris in an effort to create a safer environment and raise awareness about litter and plastic pollution.

As Hiva Nasiri (Ph.D. EE ’19), senior engineer at Quanta Technology, explains, Armour’s beach cleanup event was a chance for him to give back to the city and demonstrate Illinois Tech’s commitment to its neighborhoods around campus.

“Around our campus is not the cleanest part of the city, and, at times, it may be too much for the city to manage. When a few people get together and perform such activities as we did today, it inspires many others and gradually makes a difference,” says Nasiri. “It’s a great way for the university to stand up and make an impact on the community.”

Volunteers collected 957 cigarette butts, 788 bottle caps, 130 straws/stirrers, and more than 440 small pieces of plastic. Batteries, charcoal, aluminum foil, water bottles, and food wrappers were among the debris collected along the beach.

Sudarshan Muralidhara (M.S. ME student) indicates that such activities are critical for discussions on how to address global environmental issues.

“While there hasn’t been much [media] coverage of the fires in the Amazon, the rainforest provides 20 percent of the world's oxygen. Activities like today are a good wake-up call and remind us to pay more attention to our environment,” says Muralidhara.

Illinois Tech shared data with the Alliance for the Great Lakes to give the organization insight into the most common and problematic types of litter. This information can be used to identify pollution sources and develop solutions.

Paul Anderson, a recently retired and adjunct environmental engineering professor, also participated in the beach cleanup and shared, “The Great Lakes provide the most amazing freshwater resource in the world. The City of Chicago and Illinois Tech have a responsibility to help maintain that resource.”

He goes on to add that “Events such as this activity provide a terrific opportunity for students with diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and cultures to work together—another step in preparing them for their next phase in life.”

Armour College of Engineering volunteers were also able to receive Engineering Themes credit as part of Illinois Tech’s initiative to encourage undergraduate students to apply their technical knowledge on and off campus while bringing students together across departments.