Abraham Lincoln once said “in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Now, a group of women in Cape Cod, Massachusetts is proving just that.

Susan Baur founded ‘Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage’ (OLAUG) in 2017 to combat pollution in Cape Cod’s lakes and rivers. The group has since grown to include 30 women with ages ranging from 64-86. According to the OLAUG website, “By removing submerged trash from ponds, the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage seek to inspire women over 65 to use their power for the good of the planet and the good of each other.”

Baur, affectionately nicknamed “the turtle-lady”, originally started with a mission to save the habitat of her favorite animal, the jaguar. Just kidding, she wanted to save the turtles. She started by posting pamphlets and a pond guide with instructions like “please leave fallen trees in the water” and “please don’t let your dog tear up the shoreline”. However, not many people listened and the situation continued to deteriorate.

In 2017, a frustrated Baur marched down to a nearby pond, waved down a man in a kayak, handed him an empty laundry basket, and along with a couple of friends began to fish out any trash she could find – gold balls, cans, bottles and more. Someone in the group joked they were “a bunch of old ladies against underwater garbage” and the group was formed.

Almost a decade later, the group has capped membership at 30 women, with a mile long waitlist of others hoping to join. OLAUG has strict rules for current and possible members. You must:

1. Be a woman.
2. Be at least 64 years old.
3. Be able to swim half a mile in under 30 minutes and free-dive at least eight feet.

A little “post menopausal zest” isn’t required, but it is highly suggested.

“You’re exhausted, you’re maybe a little sunburned, you’re filthy, and it’s the best feeling,” said member Lisa Weiss. “I don’t quilt, I don’t crochet, that’s not how I’m going to fit in as I age. This feeds you in a different way.” 

The group monitors around 20 lakes in the Cape Cod area every year, keeping them clean and testing regularly for harmful levels of blue-green algae. On their website, there is a place for Cape Cod residents to submit a lake’s name for cleanup. OLAUG has also been contacted by people in 11 states and three countries about how to set up more organizations with the same goal.

Although the organization is primarily based around its female members, occasionally men are permitted to help out as well. They aren’t allowed in the water – all the heavy lifting is left to the women – but they join in running the kayaks where the women load the trash they find while diving. They also pitch in by making sure there’s plenty of fresh-baked cookies waiting for the ladies at the end of a long day’s work.

While 20 lakes a year may not seem like that big of a difference, these women are leaving an incredible impact on their community. Since 2017, they’ve removed over 6,000 pounds of trash from Cape Cod’s lakes, averaging over 100 pounds of trash per dive. Beer cans, golf balls, fishing lures, nips, fishing line and sand toys make up a majority of their finds, although they’ve also removed a toilet, a few tires, a load of bricks, and the back end of a car. In interviews Baur has described hauls that include hazardous waste such as “spent fireworks that are leaking perchlorates and car batteries.” Golf balls, which make up a large portion of the trash found, can take between 100-1,000 years to decompose naturally and, when submerged underwater, release high levels of heavy metals and zinc into the ecosystem.

“We are surrounded by so many really intractable problems,” said member Maggie Megaw. “The water quality issues on Cape Cod are really serious, and the solutions have such a far horizon… [OLAUG’s work] is so tangible and immediate. We show up at the pond and swim, and we bring back a big pile of trash.” 

Since founding OLAUG, Baur has received a climate resiliency hero award from the American Red Cross of Massachusetts and was named among the 2025 class of the Explorers Club 50 which honors people changing the world.

However, members of OLAUG don’t typically join to change the world; more often, they’re looking for friends, adventure, and purpose.

“By the time a woman is in her late 60s, she has experienced loss,” said Baur. “People in our group have lost breasts, homes, husbands, and wealth. They are in the age of gratitude.” 

The Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage didn’t wait for permission. They didn’t wait to be asked or for the perfect opportunity to present itself. Susan Baur had a goal and she marched in head-first – even if sometimes it meant swimming into hazardous firework waste or the decomposing remains of a toilet. Now OLAUG is nationally recognized and, even better, Baur’s beloved turtles and all the other wildlife in Cape Cod’s lakes can live safely and comfortably in a clean and cared-for environment.

“Our affection and respect for the fish, turtles, and plants that live in the ponds are what motivates us” says OLAUG’s ‘About Us’ page. “Well, that and cookies.”