Spring Cleaning Our Rivers

Guest post written by Michelle Huston, ACA member and active "green paddler" on the Potomac River in West Virginia.

Michelle and Jayson Huston with their ACA Paddle Green bags full of trash, and a cleaner Potomac in the background.

So this is apparently becoming a monthly routine for us now. With the snow cover gone and high waters receding along the banks of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, there's a whole new crop of garbage piled up; over 80% of which consists of Styrofoam and plastic. 

The shore area we hiked our gear into yesterday for the first time in a few months was a mess. Two full paddle green bags and two defunct buoys in only about 100 yards of shoreline. We're going to need to get a bigger boat and a dump truck, soon. We sat a large trash can, several tires, and another 55-gallon drum aside up the bank (out of all but major flood zone) so we can get them later on when we have time to bring the pick-up truck along.

Want to be featured here? Show us your best on-water stewardship work! Send stories and photos to ACA Communications Coordinator Catharine Lloyd at clloyd@americancanoe.org. 

Paddle safe, paddle often, paddle green.

Visit www.americancanoe.org/StreamtoSea to learn more about how you can help save our waterways from marine debris.

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