Annual Rivers Alive Clean up
students learned that the plastic bottles take 600 years to decompose and the glass bottles take one million years to decompose. They were very surprised to find a recliner, an inflatable pool and refrigerator parts during their clean up. The group also found and properly disposed of an excess of 200 cigarette filters. These are dangerous to the fish in the waterway because they may mistake them for food; if ingested, these filters can cause cancer in the fish.
“This is a learning experience for the students and volunteers involved,” said Allie Griner of the Gordon County 4-H Extension. “They receive education and information prior to the cleanup about the rivers and their importance in daily life, as well as the hazards cre- ated by the dumping of trash along the waterways. Seeing the amount of trash that is present along the waterways also opens their eyes to the need for awareness and action on this issue.”
The event was created by the Department of Natural Resources in the early 1990’s and is now Georgia’s annual fall volunteer waterway cleanup event. Gordon County 4-H has participated each year.
The event is a program of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division Outreach Program and targets all waterways in the state, including streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands. Its goal is to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia’s water resources, according to the organization’s website, www. riversalive. com.
Participating in the annual event gave the youth the opportunity to become productive members of Gordon County. They received a Rivers Alive t- shirt and lunch for their contribution to the event.
“The event provides the students with opportunities to give back to their community while they are youth, creating a habit of public service that we hope carries on into adulthood; it is also a learning experience,” said Griner.
Today’s 4- H Club offers projects and activities of interest to every young person. For more information, contact the Gordon County Cooperative Extension Office at 706- 629- 8685. More information is also available at ugaextension. com/ gordon.