Tuesday, October 5, 2010

RiverLink volunteers pull 1900 pounds of trash out of French Broad River

NC Big Sweep Cleanup
submitted by Dave Russell, Volunteer Coordinator for RiverLink

Chilly fall temperatures did not deter the 35 dedicated volunteers who participated in the Big Sweep Cleanup of the French Broad River coordinated by RiverLink, the Asheville Outdoor Center and 1-800-Got Junk this past Saturday. In canoes and on foot along the riverbank, volunteers collected 1,900 pounds of trash - including a TV and 76 tires from the French Broad River.

Volunteers from Warren Wilson College also fanned out alongside Amboy Road and Riverside Drive, leaving the signature orange bags full of trash for the volunteers from 1-800-Got-Junk to throw into one of their blue trucks and haul to the landfill. The canoeists, primarily a group of teens from T.C. Roberson High School in Asheville, traveled a three-mile stretch from the Asheville Outdoor Center to Jean Webb Park.

"The most commonly found items were undoubtedly drink bottles, both along the roadside and in the river," said Dave Russell, RiverLink's volunteer coordinator who walked the three miles, picking up four bags of trash along the way. "Fast food refuse ranked a close second along the roadside. The most unusual items were a television pulled from the river and a toilet from along the roadside."

RiverLink thanks everyone who participated in the Big Sweep Cleanup including Asheville Outdoor Center for lending canoes and 1-800-Got-Junk for collecting and transporting the trash and recyclables to their proper disposal places.

RiverLink has over 60 Adopt-a-Stream teams at work in the French Broad River Watershed - come out and join a team or form your own with more information at www.riverlink.org

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