Passion for cleaning up litter unites two EGLE staffers, now among world’s top litter picker-uppers

As part of National Cleanup Day, MI Environment is highlighting two staffers at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) who are making a name for themselves as litter picker-uppers.

Two staffers at EGLE are spurring each other on to be among the world’s top litter collectors.

The two worked together and cleaned up a five-block area around the Michigan Capitol building on their lunch hour in July. Both agree that they share a passion for the beauty of the outdoors, and that’s part of that spurs them to help pick up litter on walks, which often become litter walks. It’s restoring nature’s beauty. 

Last year, EGLE featured a MiEnvironment story on how Bryan Grochowski’s drive to pick up litter put him among the top litter picker-uppers worldwide on the Litterati app. The hazardous waste inspector has been picking up litter for seven years.

Nathan Noll, an environmental quality specialist in EGLE’s Water Resources Division (WRD), first learned about the app from a WRD co-worker and subsequently learned about Grochowski after another coworker shared the EGLE article. Noll soon began outpacing Grochowski.

The two met and formed an instant friendship. “The app has brought Nathan and I together as kindred co-workers, and it’s worth noting that he has inspired me to collect more this year,” said Grochowski. “I’ve already surpassed by collecting from last year – with over 10,900 pieces, and it’s only September. The app counts your daily collection and lists everyone’s ranking. It’s not unusual to see one or both of us near the top.”

They keep track of each other’s litter efforts and decided to meet for a joint project this past summer. On that litter walk, they collected about 800 pieces in less than one hour. By the next morning, they had over 1,000 pieces between them.

The pair’s statistics are impressive:

• Grochowski is in the Top 100 again for 2025.
• Grochowski hit Number Three in the world for the number of days collecting litter, with at least one piece of litter collected. (345 days out of 365)
• Grochowski crossed the 50,000 mark, hitting 58,000 in September. That took him nine years.
• Noll was Number 11 in the world for 2025. He surpassed Grochowski’s collection last year, with 20,491 pieces collected in less than one year, as he didn’t start until March.
• Noll, collecting for less than two years, surpassed 40,000 recently.
• Noll also found a weak hummingbird on a litter walk downtown and delivered the little one to a nature rescue, where the bird’s condition improved.