Rescuing Our Rivers
CRBI’s Cleansweep targets about 55 miles of the Etowah and Coosa rivers, as well as Silver Creek.
Rome’srivers and waterways are home to an amazing variety of aquatic life, plants, insects, birds and other wildlife. They offer locals and visitors a wide range of activities, from boating and kayaking to fishing and paddleboarding.
But local rivers and waterways are also home to garbage of all types that has been thrown there, often intentionally.
The Coosa River Basin Initiative’s Etowah River Cleansweep did something about that, recently. On Sept. 17 CRBI staff and volunteers got down and dirty, cleaning up approximately 50 miles of river in one day. And they couldn’t have done it without help from the community.
“Our goal was to clean every mile of the river from Allatoona Dam to Lock and Dam,” said Joe Cook, advocacy and communication coordinator for CRBI. “That’s basically trying to clean up 55 miles of river in one day. We managed to clean up about 50 miles of the Etowah and Coosa rivers as well as Silver Creek and the Kingfisher Trail.”
They managed all that because seven different groups of local and area residents pitched in.
Cook said groups included one from Georgia Highlands College, one led by Steve Boyd from Cartersville, another from the Rome High School BEAR Club led by Ramsey Cook, a group organized by local attorney Virginia Harman, a Berry College environmental stuides class led by Brian Campbell, and groups of students from Unity Christian School led by Kristie Birdsong as well as Rome Middle School students led by Natalie Dyer and Mark Persails.
The project also got help from Euharlee Creek Outfitters and Cedar Creek RV and Outdoor Center provided boats for volunteers to get on the water and retrieve trash.
Keep Bartow Beautiful and Keep Rome-Floyd County Beautiful helped by providing dumpsters and picked up the trash after it had been cleaned from the river.
Barrett Irmscher, a senior taking environmental studies at Unity Christian School, said he was surprised at the sheer amount of debris and garbage collected along the banks of the river.
“Whether it be bottles and cans or fire extinguishers and lawn chairs, it ws truly surprising to witness first-hand the effects that long-term pollution has had on our city’s rivers.”
UCS senior Lindsay Hoyt was also surprised by the amount of trash they found. “It’s sad to see how it affects our rivers because in Rome our rivers are beautiful,” she said. “However, after picking up the large amounts of trash, it makes our rivers seem very unequipped and not taken care of. This small trip really did open my eyes to the long term effects of littering.”
Mark Persails led a group of 20 people including students from Rome Middle School and Rome High School, as well as teachers, family and friends.
“We cleaned Silver Creek form the bridge on 12th to near the Etowah River,” Persails said. “Students also cleaned the Silver Creek Trail and an area behind Central Plaza.”
He said he believes the students appreciated that their hard work that day mattered.
“The river being clear amazed them... and me,” Persails said. “I could envision animals swimming and crawling, going back and forth and birds coming to wade in the waters and not choking on styrofoam and plastic refuse. Joe (Cook) captured a couple fish and a crafish. Thinking about those creatures and the skeleton of a snapping turtle really made an impression on us.”
Unity Christian School’s Kristie Birdsong said she and her students learned a lot about the local environment during the cleanup.
“Living in the United States, we take for granted being able to have clean drinking water and being able to play in lakes and rivers without considering the effects of pollution,” she said. “I believe by having my students take part in an activity clsoe to home allows them to relate some of what we’re learning in the classroom to everyday life for us even in Rome. My goal is for students to become aware and active members of our community.
“I would like to thank CRBI for organizing an event that allows so many different groups of students to be able to join together for a common purpose.”