Watershed Cleanup Day
Watershed Cleanup Day 2008 will be held on April 19. To match up your volunteer group, organization, or even your family with a cleanup site or to become a corporate sponsor of Watershed Cleanup Day 2008, please contact Chris Finton, the 2008 Watershed Cleanup Day chair at (814) 234-0831 or Geoff at 237-0400.
Each year, ClearWater participates in the world-wide recognition of Earth Day by organizing a Watershed Cleanup Day to eliminate the excess waste plaguing Centre County’s watersheds. The date for 2007's cleanup was Saturday, April 21.
This event was initiated in 1997 with the collection and disposal of 17 tons of trash in the Spring Creek Watershed. Since our kick off year, we have removed nearly 1,400 tons of trash from Spring Creek, Halfmoon Creek, Beech Creek, Penn Creek, and Little Fishing Creek Watersheds. 2005 was our biggest year in terms of tonnage with an amazing 410 tons, but we came close in 2006 with 343 tons and again in 2007 with 360 tons..
This year we had a beautiful spring day! Volunteers gather—rain or shine—to remove harmful material from sinkholes, roadsides, illegal dumpsite, and streambanks. Removing such material helps rid groundwater of dangerous pollutants, strengthening the surrounding environment and reducing the need for local governments to spend unnecessary tax dollars on cleanup that can easily be taken care of by Centre County residents.
View the 2007 Thank You ad and the 2006 Thank You ad from the Centre Daily Times to see a list of all of our volunteers, sponsors, and donors for each of these years..
A pile of trash is not an attractive sight, but trash can do worse than spoil the natural beauty of a place. Pollutants leaching from trash can enter your drinking water. Garbage can also cause injuries, harm wildlife, and its removal can use tax dollars that could be put to other uses. These are all excellent reasons to volunteer at our Watershed Cleanup Day, but as a volunteer you would also be able to enjoy the outdoors and be an active part of our community. This is a fun event that gathers together many individuals and organizations from all over the county. Young and old participate, and, afterward, we celebrate our hard work with a picnic in the natural beauty of Millbrook Marsh.
Help us surpass the nearly 300 volunteers who answered our call last year, and help us rid the land and water of Centre County of tons and tons of garbage. Enjoy the outdoors as you help make them more beautiful!
Watershed
Cleanup Day’s success is due in large part
to the people and organizations who donate their time, equipment, and
manpower year after year. One particularly notable asset includes the
Watershed Cleanup Day planning committee. This volunteer committee
comprised of representatives
from ClearWater, local businesses, conservation
districts, watershed associations, solid waste authorities, municipalities,
and the general public begin meeting months in advance to select sites,
assign coordinators, solicit heavy equipment, secure reduced disposal fees,
and generate donations. Several members of the planning committee have been
involved since the project’s initiation, and this continuity ensures the
efficient use of time and resources. Thanks to the efforts of the committee
Watershed Cleanup Day has expanded from a few sites and volunteers to over
40 sites and 300 volunteers in 2007.
Additional volunteers for the Watershed Cleanup Day planning committee are always welcome. Planning for 2008 will start up around February.
As this event grows each year so does our need to secure donations to help host the event and cover tipping fees to pay for the disposal of the refuse collected by our volunteers. In the past, ClearWater has received financial support for this project from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Centre County Solid Waste Authority, Centre County Community Foundation, Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, the MS4 Partners (College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton Townships; State College Borough; and Penn State University), and several other local municipalities and many local and national businesses, including Wal-Mart.
Special thanks in 2007 to The
Dansko Foundation and to Patagonia for their first-time support of Watershed Cleanup Day!
Stories of Land, Water, & People: Sinkholes, and Dumpsites, and Trash... Oh My!