Walking along the Kenosha lakefront with his daughter, Casey Hudson realized how much trash met them on their walk.

He thought to himself, Next time, well bring a couple garbage bags with us to help clean.

That initial thought morphed into the creation of the Lakefront Cleanup Facebook group, with a mission to clean a different lakefront in the area every Sunday at 1 p.m.

The group quickly garnered several hundred members and raised about $100 for cleaning supplies.

Initially, Hudson had a goal to raise about $50 to buy refreshments, garbage pickers and trash bags for the cleanup events. Two days after he posted the fundraiser online, more funds flowed in.

My reason for getting it out there is to get other people involved, letting them know (cleaning the beach) is not hard.

In 2016, the Ocean Conservancy, an organization which engages people to remove trash from the worlds beaches and waterways, reported 2,658 pounds of trash were picked up along 35 miles of Wisconsins Lake Michigan shore. That data was provided to the group by the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

The first beach cleanup, prior to the creation of the Facebook group, was spread by word of mouth from Hudson. About four people came out to a beach in Racine on June 3 to do their part for the environment, he said.

On Sunday, Hudson and his group took to the beachfront along Kennedy Park for the second beach cleanup.

Hudson finds the usual trash, which includes chip bags, plastic bags and bottles. Sometimes, he finds blunt wrappers and liquor bottles, too.

Cigarette butts were the most common piece of trash picked up along U.S. coasts in 2016, according to the Ocean Conservancy 2017 annual report, which stated 1,030,640 were collected nationwide.

Hudson said anyone going to the beach should bring a trash bag.

Cleaning for an hour out of your day at the beach isnt hard and helps the environment, he said.

One of the main reasons behind Hudsons beach cleaning efforts was the way his 12-year-old daughter, Kaya, reacted when he told her about it.

(It was) the way her eyes lit up and her enthusiasm behind it, he said, adding that he wants to teach environmental responsibility to all four of his kids.

Scott Bringsosin, a lifelong friend of Hudsons, has a similar hope for his own kids, prompting him to join Hudson in his beach cleanup efforts.

Its part of enjoying the outdoors. You dont want to see trash out there, he said.

When he notices trash on any beach, Bringsosin sees it as people abusing the privilege of having free beaches.

Bringsosin said the group could always use more people to help clean.

Lets get together and lets clean these shorelines up, he said.

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Local 'Lakefront Cleanup' group sweeps trash from Kenosha's beaches - Kenosha News