A Few Friends for the Environment of the World (AFFEW) members and other volunteers picked up trash at Stearns Park on Saturday morning for the final beach sweep of the summer.

The sweep was originally planned for two weeks ago, but was rained out. It was windy on Saturday, but that didn’t hamper the spirit of the sweepers.

AFFEW has been doing beach sweeps for more than 20 years. They typically do four during the summer, but the June event was canceled due to COVID-19.

The September sweep is part of an international beach clean up effort, according to AFFEW President Julie Chambers.

Wearing masks and armed with gloves, bags and clipboards, the 15 volunteers wandered the south side of the beach.

“The city has a machine that combs the main beach,” Chambers said.

Volunteers count the trash they as pick it up and note the amounts on a sheet of paper. The data is sent to Alliance for the Great Lakes, an environmental organization.

At the end of the beach sweep they collected a total of 15 pounds of garbage. There were 751 cigarette butts, which completely unexpected for Chambers.

She said they usually find a lot of cigarette and cigar butts.

AFFEW sponsored cigarette collection containers that were placed around the city and at the Ludington State Park to help with this problem. The filters are recycled into benches through the TerraCycle program and the tobacco is properly processed, Chambers said.

Karla Cain, AFFEW board member, and her husband Wally Cain, regularly help empty the containers and were at the sweep Saturday.

“It makes me sad to see how many cigarette butts there are,” Karla said.

It was the first sweep for Ann Gilchrist of Ludington.

Gilchrist said she wanted to help because she likes to do outdoor activities.

“I want to help the environment. I like backpacking, hiking and kayaking. How many cigarette butts there are surprised me. I found a lot of plastic, which didn’t surprise me,” she said.

All the AFFEW events are open to the public, Chambers said.

Eric and Trisha Keller came from Traverse City with their son Porter.

“A lot of things wash up from the water and it doesn’t just go away,” Chambers said. “We want to clean it. It’s a good way to educate people and kids. When they see us doing this and participate, they get a better understanding.”

She had a photo to show people the amount of time certain items take to break down.

“It can be eye-opening for kids. They’ll be less likely to litter,” she said.

Diana and Darrell Rohrer from Ludington said they usually bring a bag to the beach when they visit to collect trash.

“We like clean beaches,” Diana said.

They help with the organized sweeps on and off, Darrell said.

Erica Karmisool brought her 14-month-old son, Berlie.

“I wanted to come help before nap-time,” Erica said.

She wanted to come to the one that was planned for two weeks ago.

“It’s a simple way to take part and make a difference,” she said.