Celebrating Earth Week -Volunteers Awarded For Cleaning Streams

Volunteers and stream cleanup organizers from across the state met this week in Atlanta to celebrate the accomplishments of the state’s largest volunteer cleanup program, Rivers Alive. The Rivers Alive awards honor the efforts of individuals and groups who are working to improve Georgia’s waterways, one trash bag at a time. Volunteers wade into rivers, lakes and coastal waters each fall as part of the continuing statewide campaign to clean and preserve more than 70,000 miles of Georgia waterways. The Rivers Alive awards ceremony recognized groups of volunteers, as well as individuals and businesses for leadership. The ceremony was held on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Roswell River Landing in Roswell.

During the 2011 Cleanup, 29,000 volunteers cleaned more than 1,700 miles of waterways and removed more than 700,000 pounds of trash, including refrigerators, couches, sinks, bicycles, microwaves, tires and shingles. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) along with Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation jointly host the Rivers Alive Waterway Cleanup Program.

Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful (KACCB) was honored at the award ceremony as the Government Partner of the Year for its years of leadership, event organization, and reporting efforts on behalf of the Athens’ Rivers Alive project. “We are honored to be recognized for our part in this effort” says Stacee Farrell, Executive Director of KACCB. “However, it is the passion and resources of all of the Steering Committee partners, as well as our local sponsors, that make our Rivers Alive event such a success.”

This past October, over 350 volunteers collected over 2.5 tons of garbage, 500 lbs of metal recycling, 100 lbs. of leaf and limb, and 100 tires from our local waterways. Steering Committee Members include: ACC Solid Waste, ACC Transportation and Public Works/Stormwater Division, ACC Leisure Services, Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, Hands On Northeast Georgia, and ACC Public Utilities.