The Riverkeeper sponsors several river, stream or lake clean ups annually. Some of these are arranged in conjunction with the Rivers Alive program sponsored by the Georgia EPD, but others are totally locally driven. In the past our clean ups have been largely in the Savannah or Augusta areas, but we are interested in expanding to other areas in the Savannah River basin. Volunteers are always needed for our clean ups, so if you want to have some fun on, in or near the water, please keep an eye on our Events calendar for the next clean up in your area. And clean ups almost always come with some sort of treat (a t-shirt, hot dogs, a bumper sticker, a patch, educational demonstrations). If you are interested in the Riverkeeper sponsoring a clean up of your favorite water body, contact our Executive Director (frankcarl@knology.net, 706-364-5253).

5 tons of litter piles up along waterways
By Rob Pavey | Staff Writer
Saturday, October 29, 2005

Officials said Friday that more than five tons of garbage was collected last week when more than 200 volunteers converged on waterways across Richmond County.
Among the items removed by Community Partners for Clean Waterways were 5,000 beverage containers (mostly for beer and soft drinks), 2,000 food cartons and 118 scrap tires, according to Frank Carl, the executive director of Savannah Riverkeeper Inc.
Other items included 20 appliances, 12 motor vehicle batteries and 1,300 cigarette packages, he announced Friday. Volunteers also removed more than 800 items left behind by anglers (mostly bait containers). Also left behind in significant numbers were drug paraphernalia and indicators of sexual activity, Dr. Carl said. "All of these items degrade our waterways and present a danger both to other humans and particularly to the critters that make their homes in or near the water," he said. "We can prevent the accumulation of this garbage in our waterways by acting more responsibly by disposing of these items appropriately."
Community Partners for Clean Waterways is an informal partnership including the Augusta Canal Authority, Augusta State University Biology Club, Central Savannah River Land Trust, the Richmond County Recreation Department, Riverfront and Riverwalk Marinas, Savannah Riverkeeper Inc., Sierra Club and Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy.
Reach Rob Pavey at (706) 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.

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