Spring Break
CRWC Volunteers Cleanup Conn. River
Katy Nally
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: News
The Connecticut River will be teeming with more than just fish when Source to Sea Cleanup volunteers show up this Saturday. These volunteers will strap on their waders and trudge through mucky riverbanks collecting garbage to purify the water.
Last year over 1,600 volunteers from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut removed 45 tons of debris from the Connecticut River.
"It's a way of taking care of this beautiful resource," said Andrea Donlon, a river steward from Massachusetts. So far there are 57 cleanup sites in the four states, including local towns such as Hartford, Farmington, Windsor and Wethersfield, Donlon said.
Students are encouraged to contribute to the effort; anyone interested in volunteering could show up at a cleanup site and lend a hand, said Megan Hearne, a river steward from Connecticut.
"Just be prepared to have fun, get your hands dirty and your feet wet," Hearne said.
The Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC) runs the Source to Sea Cleanup and according to their Web site, the Connecticut River used to have the reputation of being the "Nation's best landscaped sewer."
The "trash tally sheet" of items volunteers might collect from the river includes tires, toys, TVs, furniture and other potentially harmful waste.
Donlon said the debris is from people litter, illegal dumping, fishers and boaters who use the river, and spring floods that washed materials on to the banks.
Since Source to Sea began 11 years ago, volunteers have removed 400 tons of trash and 2,743. Hearne said that if all the tires were stacked, the tower would be taller than any building.
However, in the end, the Source to Sea effort makes the Connecticut River a healthier habitat for fish and "it's a way for people to connect to the river," Donlon said.
Interact, a community outreach club at Glastonbury High School, participated in the cleanup last year.
"The kids have a blast," Joe Jaconetta, adviser for Interact. "They really want to help other people; it's uplifting to see."
Last year over 1,600 volunteers from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut removed 45 tons of debris from the Connecticut River.
"It's a way of taking care of this beautiful resource," said Andrea Donlon, a river steward from Massachusetts. So far there are 57 cleanup sites in the four states, including local towns such as Hartford, Farmington, Windsor and Wethersfield, Donlon said.
Students are encouraged to contribute to the effort; anyone interested in volunteering could show up at a cleanup site and lend a hand, said Megan Hearne, a river steward from Connecticut.
"Just be prepared to have fun, get your hands dirty and your feet wet," Hearne said.
The Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC) runs the Source to Sea Cleanup and according to their Web site, the Connecticut River used to have the reputation of being the "Nation's best landscaped sewer."
The "trash tally sheet" of items volunteers might collect from the river includes tires, toys, TVs, furniture and other potentially harmful waste.
Donlon said the debris is from people litter, illegal dumping, fishers and boaters who use the river, and spring floods that washed materials on to the banks.
Since Source to Sea began 11 years ago, volunteers have removed 400 tons of trash and 2,743. Hearne said that if all the tires were stacked, the tower would be taller than any building.
However, in the end, the Source to Sea effort makes the Connecticut River a healthier habitat for fish and "it's a way for people to connect to the river," Donlon said.
Interact, a community outreach club at Glastonbury High School, participated in the cleanup last year.
"The kids have a blast," Joe Jaconetta, adviser for Interact. "They really want to help other people; it's uplifting to see."
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