The hot temperatures may have sent many people to head to the beach over the weekend to cool off.


But did they clean up after they left? It's a practice that park official stress to visitors whenever they come to the peninsula.


When people combine beautiful weather and the Fourth of July, many people may choose to head to Presque Isle.


Brian Gula, an Environmental Educational Specialist for the DCNR said, "Folks are out recreating, boating, on the beach, walking the trails, and so practicing a leave no trace mentality and practice is great for everybody."


But before people pack up for the day, park officials try to remind visitors, the importance of cleaning up. "Keeping a clean environment, picking up after ourselves, picking up after our pets, all those kind of things just make for a better experience for all of us to enjoy our natural resources", said Gula.


It doesn't have to take much, the simple act of throwing away trash before leaving Presque Isle and the beaches can make all the difference. Even if people do clean up after themselves, litter can still make its way to the beaches from other water ways.


According to Gula, "We are on a large body of water like Lake Erie, we can be impacted by others, miles away because of the currents on Lake Erie so when we get storms and we currents and the waves are washing up onto our beaches, we can get plastics and other debris that wash up on our beach, that aren't left by visitors on Presque Isle but could be left miles away."


Gula stressed the importance of people cleaning up after themselves since they never know where the trash could end up. But he's grateful whenever he sees people cleaning up after themselves or others, "I see it almost every day, we have a lot of great volunteers, we have a lot of folks that just take it upon ourselves."

The first week of July is also recognized as Clean Beaches Week. Another good reminder for people to leave beaches better than they found them.