23 Volunteers and 30 bags of litter, it was a good day!!

A touch of natural beauty

This graffiti is not!!

Cleaning graffiti at the Easter Ferry bridge

This is what it's all about! Clean Rivers (Elk River)

This is not!

A wood jam from mother nature, plastic bottles are not!

David Seibert and Kelly Range painting under the bridge

Don Wojtal doing his part to clean up!

Painting over the graffiti

Jeff Carroll and Marsha Patterson on a mission to clean up!

Folks dump even their old roofing material!

Scout Troop 221 collecting the roofing material left by uncaring law breaking residents.

Scouts find an old tarp in the river

Lunch break at highway 99

Waiting for a pickup!

Trash collected from our parks

Kelly Range loading up the pickup

Truck loaded and ready to go!

TVA staff bringing in some trash

Damien Simbeck, with TVA, taking scouts on a cruise!

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23 Volunteers and 30 bags of litter, it was a good day!!

It was a tremendously successful day, especially considering that it was our first time and we had to reschedule due to storms. We had 23 volunteers plus about 6 inmates working at two put-in spots (Hwy 99 and Easter Ferry) and on the river. We separated recyclable items out and took them to the recycling center. We had a total of approximately 30 bags of litter (about 20 bags were recyclable), several tires, a TV set, and a refrigerator that will be pulled out of the river by TVA staff.

The majority of the recyclables were plastic. 90% of all the litter that ends up in our river starts out on land -- and not necessarily right near the river. Our litter washes into ditches, gets carried by rain, animals, and wind (like yesterday's storms) and eventually enters our waterways. Plastic doesn't biodegrade, it photodegrades -- which means it never "returns to the earth", it just becomes smaller and smaller pieces of plastic that become a "plastic soup" that is eaten by fish and birds. The consumption of plastic kills wildlife or it becomes part of the food chain. Some of which will end up on your dinner plate. Think about that. Who says litter doesn't hurt? It hurts everyone!

Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 221 were there and did a great job. These boys are to be commended -- and kudos to their parents and scout leaders for turning out such polite, responsible, hard-working you men! One of these scouts has chosen to built benches to place at these two put-in spots as his Eagle Scout project. He will work together with KALB on this project. These are beautiful spots to fish or just watch the river go by. Benches and some wild flowers and flowering shrubs will just add to their appeal.

Look for this to happen again next spring, and every spring thereafter! Anyone interested in helping to plan next year's cleanup is encouraged to contact KALB at 256-233-8728 or email to KeepALBeautiful@att.net. We will reclaim our river!

LYNNE HART
Executive Coordinator
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful, Inc.
256-233-8728
KeepALBeautiful@att.net
www.KeepAthensLimestoneBeautiful.com
Find us on FACEBOOK
March 2nd, 2001 - Clean-up on Elk River