Ipperwash Beach - Lake Huron, near Sarnia, Ontario, Canada (Photo:Magnus Manske/Wikimedia Commons)

Here at Beach Treasures and Treasure Beaches.com we usually dedicate Tuesdays to posting helpful, ready-made lists and tallies. Today, on the other hand, we found an opportunity for us beach lovers and the citizens of the Great Lakes Region of the USA and Canada to instead pitch in and participate in compiling a fun and useful list!

Do you remember the acronym, learned in elementary school Social Studies class, for reciting the Great Lakes? Just in case you forgot, it’s “HOMES.” H: Lake Huron, O: Lake Ontario, M: Lake Michigan, E: Lake Erie, S: Lake Superior. Together, the five Great Lakes account for over 10,000 miles of (most commonly) sandy shoreline.  We’re talking some really serious beach acreage here!

Holland State Park - Lake Michigan, Holland, Michigan (Photo:Shirl/Holland State Park/Wikimedia Commons)

Here is an easy, interactive way to get involved in promoting environmental literacy. Simply answer this question: “What’s the minimum every responsible citizen of the Great Lakes region should know about their environment?”

In the online article on “Environmental literacy: What should every Great Lakes citizen know?,” David Poulson, the editor of Great Lakes Echo, explains, “The idea is to develop a list and use it as the basis for questions we’ll ask random people – sort of like the Jaywalking feature on the Tonight Show. We’ll video their answers – right, wrong, funny, creative – and conclude with a look at the answer.” (According to Great Lakes Echo.org, “Great Lakes Echo is a project of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.“)

Twelvemile Beach - Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

Knowledge is power! Promoting environmental literacy can only help develop a better understanding for the preservation and protection of our Great Lakes and their beautiful shorelines, giving rise to a safe and healthy future. I’m looking forward to seeing both the questions and the answers! Hopefully, along the way, we’ll learn a few interesting things!

Have a great day at the beach!