Thanks to all of you who picked up trash on your hometown river as part of
National River Cleanup Week. By helping your local river become litter-free, you’ve raised awareness around the country that rivers are vital community assets—not places for trash.
Now, we want to hear your trash stories!
What was the craziest thing you found? Did the media come to your event? What were the top brand trash items? What surprised you about your trash cleanup? How did you feel at the end?
Whatever your story may be, we’d love to hear it. Here are a few stories from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Milwaukee, South Carolina and DC to get you started.
We look forward to hearing your trash talkin’ tales.
Keepin' it clean,
9 comments:
from:
http://www.bardstownboaters.com/files/Paddle_Pickup_2007.htm
Wow. This thing just keeps getting bigger.
We had 50+ out on the Beech Fork this Saturday for another great Paddle Pickup.
First I would like to thank everyone who makes this river cleanup possible. People like Mike Hammons with Central Kentucky Canoe & Kayak. He halts his own business and donates his entire fleet of canoes to us each year. And when we load these things with tires and old scrap metal then scrape them down the rubble dam, we really but the boats through the ringer. But with out them, the Paddle Pickup could never grow to be this large. So Mike, the Bardstown Boaters would like to thank you for all or your hard work and support.
We would like to thank Nelson County for providing all the means needed to remove the bulk garbage from the river.
We would like to thank the Bardstown Rotarians for providing t-shirts for all the volunteers of the Paddle Pickup.
We would like to thank the Bluegrass Tavern and Smith Brothers Distributing for providing us with a new banner for this year's event.
And special thanks goes out to Boy Scout Troops 142 and 147. They came out big for the 2007 Paddle Pickup. Over 20 scouts paddled the river, cleaning it up and removing tons of garbage from it. The Boy Scouts worked very hard on this day and it couldn't have been this great of an effort without them.
This year the Paddle Pickup removed more trash for our local stream bed than ever before. Over 80 tires were among the tons of garbage removed, which includes an old news paper dispenser that has been wasting away down at the Beech Fork for about a decade and of course your standard 20 bags full of beer and soft drink cans.
Sadly we had two blatant displays of disrespect to our river during the Paddle Pickup. A group of eight paddlers putting on at 31E threw down beer cans right in front of a group of volunteers who were removing tires from the river. Also a father son team of polluters threw down their bait container and soft drink cans while they enjoyed fishing at the freshly cleaned rubble dam.
Keep throwing your trash in the river, and we'll keep picking it up. We won't be stopping. One day these idiots will get the message.
If you weren't able to make it out this year, we'll be doing it again next year. It will take place again during the National River Cleanup Week.
Thanks to all our volunteers who helped make our local waterways a better place. We'll see you on the river.
This is from a Letter to the Editor, I wrote (Susan Weber)
Our River, Our Heritage
On June 2nd, The Flint River Conservation Association and American Rivers sponsored a clean up on two sections of the Flint River for the National Rivers Clean Up. Each year, I greatly admire the dedication of our volunteers—both canoeists and landlubbers, who spend hours on the river or at the bridge crossings removing the castaways of our increasingly disposable society. I estimated that our 49 volunteers got over 3 tons of debris that day, and most of the weight was in tires—over 50 of them were collected. It amazes me that people are still tossing tires off the bridges, when they can be properly disposed of or recycled.
I want to thank all those dedicated people that come out each year for this event (now in our 9th year) as it is a great way to detoxify the soul as well as clean up the river. The Flint River is our most scenic recreational river in Madison County, and we should respect it if for nothing else, that it is the main source of Huntsville’s drinking water. The next time you want to toss that bottle out of the car window, or toss a tire into the river, be aware that you are fouling your own nest.
On National Public Lands Day on Sept. 29th, FRCA will hold another clean up, and we hope to get as committed a group as we had for National Rivers Clean Up Week. You can learn more about the qualities of the Flint River at our next regular meeting on August 14th, when aquatic specialist Paul Freeman will tell us the good, bad, and ugly about the River. You can call 427-5116 for more information.
P.S. Not part of the Ltr. to the editor, which was published on the 4th of July so lots of people saw it, one of our canoes picked up a stainless steel refrigerator, which almost overwhelmed their canoe. Fortunately, it was manned by two young men in their 20's who are used to hard labor. They could not pick up anything else because their canoe was so unstable. But as luck would have it, about 2/3 the way back, some bubba on the bank saw it, and wanted it for scrap metal recycling, so they unloaded it into his truck. Then they could proceed to pick up more stuff--mainly tires, before the take out.
Carrabelle River Clean-up a Huge Success
Twenty-nine volunteers braved the much-needed rain Saturday morning to clean up the Carrabelle River. The group met at the City’s Pavilion on Marine Street to fan out on both sides of the river to all the boat ramps and riverfront from the Tillie Miller Bridge to the Dog Island Ferry dock.
They used boats, kayaks, tackle, ropes, machetes and good old fashion people power to glean an amazing array of stuff out of the river. Bicycles, sinks, toilets, signs, marine debris, tires, wheelchairs, books, thousands of Styrofoam boxes and cups filled a dumpster. Carrabelle Junction prepared a great picnic lunch for the volunteers.
City of Carrabelle, Friends of the Waterfront and Carrabelle CARES worked together to organize an effort to clean up the portion of the Carrabelle River included in the newly designated Waterfronts Florida Partnership Program area. Several traveled from as far away as the north side of Tallahassee to join young and old alike who tackled the job with great enthusiasm and creativity.
Board members of Carrabelle CARES: Tamara Allen, Lesley Cox, Dan Rosier, Jim Carrell, Barbara Butz, and Steve Allen.
Friends of the Waterfront: Mayor Mel Kelly, David Butler, Bill Rose, Representatives of Environmental Consulting & Technologies (ECT) – scientist Lee Norris and engineer Lee Smith brought their equipment and know how. ECT is the Tallahassee based engineering firm, which has done such a great job on the recent improvements to Tillie Miler Park.
In addition whole families turned out - the Tyre Family - Jimmie, Hunter and Rae Noel, and the Lewis Family - Charly, Carla and Michael.
Cal Allen brought his flats boat and the father son team of David and Andrew Butler used their kayaks to get up in the marsh grass.
Other workers included Pam Schaffer, Skip Frink, Dan Cox, Arlene Oehler, Andrew Butler, Tom Kelly, Gaye Luss, Jed Grant, Mary Giles, Penny Anderson, Carl and Mercedes Updyke.
July 25, 2007 12:55 PM
Now that National River Cleanup Week is over, the most rewarding part (for me) begins. For the last month, I've been talking to many of you about your cleanups, and the more I hear the more honored I feel to be involved with your work through National River Cleanup Week! My job is to gather together the fruit of your labors, assembling all of the trash you've removed from our nation's rivers into one giant pile on which we can rest -- for just a moment -- and admire what we've accomplished. We're kind of like squirrels storing acorns, our knowledge of what we have accomplished together sustaining us until next Spring comes around.
If you'll allow me to stretch out this metaphor just a little further -- this pile is made up of individual acorns, nuts and seeds, each one with a different path to the forest floor. So many of you have funny, interesting, sad, surprising, and touching stories to tell. Your cleanups have resulted in a set of dog tags from WWII returned to its rightful owner, the removal of collapsed bridges, telephone poles, lawn mowers, and hot tubs from river beds and banks, the education of decisionmakers in your communities, not to mention celebratory mudfights (we have to fit the fun in somewhere), and there must be much more about which I haven't yet heard. If you haven’t told America your cleanup story yet, consider sharing it here as part of the National River Cleanup Week "Trash Talkin’" blog. Just click on the Share Your Cleanup Story link.
And, to give you an idea of what we accomplished collectively, the trash stats from this year:
# Bags of Trash Removed: 100,980
Weight of Trash and Debris Removed: >600 tons
# Cleanup Organizers: 522
# Cleanup Sites: 583
# Volunteers: 95,109
# River Miles Cleaned: 7,453
Notable Items Removed: toilet seats, washing machine, motorcycle, outhouse, exercise bike, propane tank, baby pool, telephone pole, lawn mower, hot tub, circular saw, tractor
*There are almost 50 additional cleanups that haven't yet taken place. We'll send updated data after the last cleanups occur in October.
Keepin' it clean,
Heather Hamilton
National River Cleanup Coordinator
19th Annual Swatara Sojourn—2007
The trek through the first segment showed no mercy on our volunteers. Canoe after canoe tipped, but no one quit. Everyone pitched in to help a fellow sojourner. You guys are fantastic!
We floated past Union Canal locks, and DCNR and SCWA’s lunch site in Swatara State Park at Bordner cabin and Acrygg's falls was awesome. We used our new picnic tables, told the story of the woodshop teacher who built the cabin, and took some photos.
Three iron bridges later (Appalachian Trail, Inwood, and Lickdale), we could see the Lickdale Campgrounds. The broasted chicken at Lickdale Campgrounds sure tasted good. And the ice cream cones were refreshing. Then, before turning in for the night, we sat back and listened to the Down To Earth Band. We heard the Sweet Arrow Lake Serenade and the Swattie Song along with other conservation themed songs. Nice job guys (and Denise.)
Sunday morning, just before Route 72, around Frog's Hollow, sitting on wires spanning the creek, we saw a bald eagle perching above the riffles. He appeared to be looking for fish. He took off downstream, but that was awesome too. We also saw a handful of red-tailed hawks along the way. Birders in the flotilla said that they recorded 67 different species of birds over the two-day period. Denise is providing information for a bird atlas. It didn't fly, and we were surprised to see a dead 300-pound bear too.
Someone asked how to find the lava deposits. From the start at Weidle’s gym, cross the Swatara, and look for Herr’s feed-mill on the south side of the road. Alongside the mill is an abandoned railroad bed. Walk back the bed until you see the bridge. You really have to know for what you are looking. The last time I visited, the lava was covered with moss on the right bank.
By the way, John Slotterbach found five $20 bills inside a baggie that was inside a white grocery bag under a coffee can filled with water--right next to a barrel on the shore. He picked up the barrel first, and the coffee can was almost an after-thought. Congratulations, John! You're a hard worker, and a lot of people were happy that you found Scott Ihn's (at ACEs) reward. And thank you Scott for adding a boost of incentive for the paddlers. By the way, the grounds were immaculate. There was a roaring fire, hot chocolate, and restrooms. This was a great rest stop!
At the Fish and Boat Commission and SCWA Waterworks lunch stop, we arrived to the bagpipe and drum of Thistle and Barley. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Celtic bagpipes and Heidi's description of her pipes.
At the reported deepest spot on the Swattie, Blue Rock outcrop was its usual magnificent self with violets, bleeding hearts, and other flowers thriving on a bed of limestone towering over the Swatara.
Our shore support did an A+ job too:
Laurie, my daughter, headed up registration, took pictures, steadied canoes for easier exits...;
Jack hauled four trailer loads of tires, totaling 192, the most we’ve ever collected in one year, to Kettering's (we picked up the last load Monday morning), and Brian should receive a special award. Not only did he take the tires on Monday, he came out over the weekend to unload both Saturday and Sunday's hauls. Some were truck tires, and some tires were mounted on rims. At a minimum of $3 per tire, this one small businessman donated over $576 worth of services to the cause. Do I need to suggest where you should buy your next set of tires? Kettering’s is located at 16th and Cumberland Streets in Lebanon. Let him know how much we appreciate his participation.
Weidle Sanitation provided four two-cubic yard dumpsters (With the trash that wouldn't fit into the dumpsters, Sojourners pulled at least 9 cubic yards of trash from the Swatara), and the
Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority will accept the collected trash;
Tom, Norm, and Dick shuttled people with the van; and the
Food teams of Dick and June, Betty and George, Ann and Dave made sure we had nourishment. Steph Harmon and Reilly, her daughter, pitched in at Jonestown too.
The whole while, we stayed hydrated with drinks provided by American Water Company, Bass Pro, Twin Grove Park, White’s Gym in Jonestown and others. Please revisit all of our superb sponsors. We couldn't make this trip affordable without their generous support, especially the PA Organization of Watersheds and Rivers.
Thank you everyone for another successful year, and God bless!
RAINS DIDN’T DAMPEN VOLUNTEER SPIRIT IN CLEANING UP THE APALACHICOLA & CARRABELLE RIVERS
Storm clouds and rain from Tropical Storm Barry didn’t put a damper on the recent American Rivers clean-up in Franklin & Gulf counties. According to Apalachicola Riverkeeper Executive Director Andy Smith, the clean-up was held in conjunction with National River Clean-up Week to raise public awareness of the magnitude of trash accumulating in our nation’s waterways. “Approximately 50 volunteers gathered in Apalachicola, Carrabelle and Wewahitchka on Saturday, June 2 and removed over 4300 pounds of trash from our waterways,” Smith said.
River Areas Covered During Clean-up:
Areas along the Apalachicola River in Franklin County that were targeted for clean-up include Whiskey George, Graham Creek, Doyle Creek, Scipio Creek, Osprey Tower, sand near railroad trestle, 10’ Hole at Battery Park and Gaskin Landing.
Carrabelle volunteers covered both sides of the Carrabelle River to all the boat ramps and riverfront from the Tillie Miller Bridge to the Dog Island Ferry dock. Kudos to Carrabelle Clean-up Coordinator Tamara Allen and the Carrabelle Volunteers! Tamara was instrumental in gathering the most volunteers for the day, and the Carrabelle group collected the most trash for the days. (see “Carrabelle River Success” article by Tamara Allen)
Riverkeeper Dan Tonsmeire joined Tyler Macmillan, Northwest Florida Water Management District (NFWMD), on his boat along with other volunteers to clean Mile 34 of the Apalachicola River in Gulf County.
A Great Big “Thank-You” to our Sponsors!
The Apalachicola Riverkeeper would like to recognize the following sponsors for their contributions to the American Rivers clean-up.
1. Keep Franklin County Beautiful
2. Wheelhouse Café
3. City of Carrabelle
4. Carrabelle Cares
5. Friends of the Carrabelle Waterfront
6. Carrabelle Junction – restaurant
7. Tables & Chairs provided by A Rental Co. (Putt-N-Fuss Fun Park)
8. Franklin County Department of Solid Waste & Recycling
9. Department of Waste Management for Gulf & Bay Counties
May 12, 2007 St Cloud State University Outdoor Endeavors held their 2nd Annual Mississippi River Clean Up along the shores of the University. Bluebird skies, comfortable temps and a motivated crew were all it took to bring up another 1000 pounds of debris!
Over the course of the last 2 years, there have been three clean ups netting nearly 4000 pounds of steel, building debris, litter and plastic.
Without the support of the Office of Sport Facilities & Campus Recreation, Minnesota Adopt A River and our tireless Outdoor Endeavors staff we could not pull these off.
Next clean up is Saturday October 6, 2007. As a thanks to our volunteers we host a huge cook out and make sure they are fed better than any other volunteers in the region!
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/campusrec/outdoorendeavors
Ivan Bartha
Coordinator for Experiential Programs
320-308-6691
Shenandoah River Sweep
All my life I have been surrounded by water. Coming from a serious fishing/boating/canoeing family, I have come to know and love the Shenandoah River. Unfortunately, due to recent fish kills in the area, trips to the river have become far more rare than they used to be. When the time came for my stepfather/Scout leader, Larry Shifflett, and me to choose a Boy Scout Eagle Project, a River Sweep was the obvious choice.
I began by meeting with representatives of two large industries that are located on the banks of the Shenandoah River near Harrisonburg, Virginia – in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. We sat down to discuss the funding of my project with environmental managers from Merck & Co., Inc. and the Coors Brewing Company. After receiving the funding go-ahead from both sponsors, I began the hard work of planning my River Sweep Eagle project.
I made contact with Rodney Turner of Shenandoah River Adventures to outfit my project with 20 canoes. Due to the overwhelming response of volunteers, I also had to contact Massanutten River Adventures to supply 10 more canoes. Also for the project, I had custom tee shirts made to time stamp the project using a local graphics shop called Laughing Dog Productions. Finally, Mr. J’s Bagels and Deli provided boxed lunches to be eaten at the end of the river clean-up day. I have also applied for Adopt-a-Stream status for the project.
On June 16, 2007, after months of planning and endless phone calls, 70 volunteers (from Merck and Co. Inc, Coors Brewing Company, Boy Scout Troop 40 of Harrisonburg and Boy Scout Troop 46 of Elkton) met at the boat landing at Island Ford Bridge for the River Sweep. After a quick collection of a full bag of trash and seven tires just at the put-in site, a rundown of the day’s agenda, and safety talks, canoes were filled with teams of two and we began the clean-up.
At midpoint of our 7-mile stretch of river, thirteen tires, eighteen bags of trash, a school bus seat, two metal lawn chairs, and a child’s tricycle were already collected from the depths and surrounding banks of the Shenandoah. Although, the day was not all work for the volunteers, four water fights and multiple sets of rapids added to the adventure of the beautiful day.
The wrap-up of the 2007 Shenandoah River Sweep took place at Riverside Park in Elkton, Virginia. Another ten tires, twenty-four bags of trash equaling a grand total of 1,260 pounds of trash, one trash can, five sheets of scrap metal and a car door were cataloged as jokes, laughs, and high-fives were given. The day came to a close with lunch and the passing out of tee shirts. The event was a huge success due to the excitement and hard work of the volunteers.
"The Iowa River Cleanin' Rodeo" On Saturday, September 22, 30 volunteers madeo up of 4-H members, club leaders, parents, and county conservation staff cleaned 7 miles of the Iowa River in the southwestern corner of Franklin County, Iowa. We used canoes and kayaks provided by Franklin County Conservation Board. Participants also learned more about nature and the envirnonment by participating in a scavenger hunt along the way. Until some of our volunteers got the hang of manuvering their water craft we had a few soggy paddlers. We collected around 200 pounds of trash, most of which we were abel to recyle. The most intersted piece we found was an old ringer washing machine. The rest was made up of cans and bottles, styrofoam, and plastic items. We had several local sponsors that provided lunch and snacks. We were able to experience this project through an Iowa DNR mini CLEAR grant. We would like to thank the Iowa DNR, the Franklin County Conservation, the local sponsers, and all the volunteers that made this a successful events. Several of our 4-H'ers asked if we could do it again next year. We think we would have found more garbage if this river hadn't been out of it's banks four times this summer.
Post a Comment