Ready for war against garbage

Volunteers tackle debris at river’s edge

Instead of spending Saturday morning sleeping in, the Memphis River Warriors will be out in full force, picking through the grass and mud to gather trash washed up on the shores of Harbor Town.

They’re cleaning up in anticipation for the 32nd annual Outdoors Inc. Canoe and Kayak Race on June 15.

Memphis River Warriors is a recently minted student organization at the University of Memphis. The group grew out of the university’s Honors Student Council’s cleanup efforts at McKellar Lake.

With support from Memphis City Beautiful, college students from the U of M, Christian Brothers University and other organizations have collected 35,000 pounds of trash in the last two years and recycled about 57 percent.

“We are here to help support any organization that wants to clean up and beautify the city,” said Cyndy Grivich Tucker, program coordinator for Memphis City Beautiful. “In this case, we support each other’s endeavors; we like to work together on these cleanups near the water on the shoreline.”

Most of the debris that washes up on the shore of the Mississippi River comes from the city’s storm drains, according to Tucker.

“Our purpose is to spread awareness about the problem: anything you throw out of your car window ends up in the Mississippi,” said Grace Waters, president of Memphis River Warriors. “The cleanups give people pride in their city.”

Officials with Outdoors Inc. asked the group to come after seeing how much trash volunteers collected during a September cleanup in the same area.

The race is expected to bring more than 500 kayakers and canoers from across the country to Harbor Town.

“We both have the same mission: to get people out on the water,” said Colton Cockrum, faculty adviser to the Memphis River Warriors. “We do it for environmental reasons; they do it for recreational reasons.”

The goal for Saturday is to clean up the entry and exit points for the race, which begins in the Wolf River, north of Greenbelt Park and finishes at the mouth of the Memphis Harbor near Mud Island.

Cheyenne Medlock serves on the Memphis River Warriors planning committee and has been involved with the river cleanups for two years.

“We organize everyone into groups as they arrive, give them gloves and bags, and send them off,” Medlock said. “Most of the trash we’re collecting is easily accessible.”

Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. on the cobblestone landing on Riverside Drive, and the cleanup will last until 10 a.m. Everyone who attends Saturday’s cleanup will receive a Memphis River Warrior bandanna.