Greenfield, MA – The Connecticut River Watershed Council’s (CRC) 19th annual Source to Sea Cleanup will be held Friday & Saturday, September 25 & 26, 2015. There are three ways to get involved in the Cleanup: report a trash site in need of cleaning, find a cleanup group near you to join, or organize and register your own local cleanup group. For more information or to register for the event, visit ctriver.org/cleanup.
The annual Source to Sea Cleanup is a two-day event coordinated by CRC in all four states of the 410+ mile Connecticut River basin (NH, VT, MA, CT). Each fall, thousands of volunteers of all ages and abilities head out to clean the Connecticut River and its tributaries on foot or by boat. Volunteers remove trash along rivers, streams, parks, boat launches, trails and more. “Source to Sea Cleanup volunteers have worked hard to combat litter and illegally dumped trash,” says Alicea Charamut, CRC River Steward and organizer of the Cleanup. “Their hard work and dedication is impressive and inspiring.”
In 2014, more than 2,000 volunteers hauled over 47 tons of trash from river banks and waterways in NH, VT, MA and CT. Volunteers use human power and sometimes heavy equipment to pull out everything from recyclables, fishing equipment and food waste to tires, televisions, refrigerators and junk cars. To date, volunteers have prevented more than 897 tons of trash from polluting our rivers. “If your group wants to get involved but needs a cleanup site, contact us to learn about reported trash sites that may be near you,” notes Charamut. Anyone with questions or trash tips can contact CRC’s Cleanup Coordinator Alicea Charamut at cleanup@ctriver.org or by calling 860-704-0057.
“Generous financial support from lead sponsors—NRG’s Middletown Generating Station, Pratt & Whitney, and TransCanada—enables us to organize the thousands of volunteers who participate in the Cleanup, and to take on complex projects that require the use of heavy equipment, scuba divers and other professionals to get those really trashed places cleaned up,” says CRC Executive Director Andrew Fisk. CRC plans to continue efforts on cleaning up the tire dump along the Deerfield River in Greenfield, MA as well as removing an abandoned exposed pipe in the Connecticut River in Holyoke, MA and a number of fuel tanks in various rivers in NH & VT.
The Connecticut River Watershed Council works to protect the watershed from source to sea. As stewards of this heritage, we celebrate our four-state treasure and collaborate, educate, organize, restore and intervene to preserve its health for generations to come. Our work informs our vision of economic and ecological abundance. To learn more about CRC, or to join the effort and help protect our rivers, visit ctriver.org.
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