Reviewed by: Patrick Byington
340 pounds of trash removed from 2 Decatur waterways by Tennessee Riverkeeper
Reading time: 2 minutes
In a recent cleanup effort, Tennessee Riverkeeper volunteers collected a whopping 340 pounds of trash from the banks of Wilson Morgan Lake and Clark Spring Branch, a tributary of the Tennessee River in Decatur.
This cleanup was a joint effort between Tennessee Riverkeeper, Model Environment and Bryan Animal Clinic.
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How ‘a few people can make a difference’
Tennessee Riverkeeper founder David Whiteside said this area of Clark Spring Branch near the Tennessee River is “a collection zone for garbage.”
He said often, litter that gets thrown out on streets will flow into creeks and rivers after rain events via drainage systems. This creates a situation where waterways receive a plethora of plastics. This garbage negatively impacts water quality and becomes a visible eyesore.
“These events show that a few people can make a difference, and cleanups provide some hope for hundreds of thousands of citizens who are concerned about our blessed river and its tributaries. Clean water is a nonpartisan issue; we are all in this together.”
David Whiteside, Tennessee Riverkeeper
Whiteside added that no one solution exists for keeping our waterways clean, but that preventing plastics from entering waterways is an obvious solution, and it is easier to remove garbage from the shorelines and shallow water of creeks and rivers.
“It is very difficult and inefficient to try to remove litter from deeper water. Another important solution is education and informing citizens that littering not only makes our community look trashy, it also impairs fishing and water quality.”
David Whiteside, Tennessee Riverkeeper
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