Litter picking is an All Season Sport - Winooski River Salmon Hole Litter Clean up

    Litter clean up at the Salmon Hole of the Winooski River, on Oct. 5, 2012.
Coordinated by The Rozalia Project as part of the International Coastal Cleanup events. (http://www.rozaliaproject.org/join_us/for_a_clean_vermont.html)

Participants in the clean-up were Tim Larned, Yumi Jakobcic, James Gilbane, Tom Fuller, and Ben Waters - all employees of The Winooski Valley Park District (http://www.wvpd.org/), and Bernie (author of this blog).

Chips, Chips, and more chips.

 Beautiful colored leaves,
however not so great-

all the colored chip bags.

                                                                            A slippery slope draws the litter to the river.  

 Even nature's small creatures lent a hand picking up litter.

Cleaning up syringes is like being on pins and needles-

Sharpies are not our favorite litter to pick up.

 

 

                                                                                     Fortunately, all of these were found in a bag.

Sometimes a litter find allows for a fun break.

Some of the crew took the littered Razor for a ride along the sidewalk.

It worked just fine.

                                                               Back to work

Participants in the clean up were Tim Larned, Yumi Jakobcic, James Gilbane, Tom Fuller, and Ben Waters, and Bernie 

The collection grows - all kinds of interesting litter finds.

                The abandoned shopping cart came in handy as more bags were filled.

                      Mystery litter: The rocks were too big to take out. Maybe they grew in the bottle.

                                           Not exactly a glass slipper, however nicely shined shoe.

                                            The collection continues to grow.

 

Litter Picking is a fun, addictive, challenging, family-oriented, soul-refreshing, community-based year-round activity.

Results from our clean-up (6 people, 16 bags total):

Plastic bags: 65

Paper bags: 4

Food wrappers/containers: 272

Plates/cups/forks/knives/spoons: 60

Plastic bottles: 105

Glass bottles: 64

Cans: 89

Straws/stirrers: 4

Caps/lids/bottle tops: 55

Pull tabs: 1

Six-pack rings: 1

Cigarettes/fillers: 43

Paper/tissue/napkins/receipts: 5

Personal hygiene: 103

Lighters: 8

Shoes: 1

Toys: 5

Gloves: 1

Condoms: 3

Diapers: 1

Clothing: 16

Bait containers/packaging/crates: 3

Monofilament/net fiber 5mm-30mm: 1

Fishing lures/light sticks: 1

Rope: 1 (10 feet)

Building materials: 1 (12 feet)

Oil/lube bottles: 7

Office supplies/pens: 2

Small plastic 5mm-30mm: 10

Large plastic >30mm: 11

Large foam >30mm: 62

Metal pieces: 9

Rubber pieces: 3

Fabric pieces: 1

Glass pieces: 3

Other: 33 creamer containers, 5 hub caps, 1 grocery cart, 1 bike seat, 1 razor scooter

                    







                












                                                                     Pick up a piece of litter every day!






















See more about the Salmon Hole on VPT's Master Angler segment @ http://www.vpt.org/show/11244

VT LEG #287376 v.1

State of Vermont

House of Representatives

Montpelier, Vermont

Concurrent House Resolution

H.C.R. 35

House concurrent resolution commending watershed organizations for their role in river and lake cleanup

activities in Vermont

Offered by: Representatives Townsend of South Burlington and Deen of Westminster

Whereas, clean water is essential to Vermonters’ personal health and the health of our economy and

environment, and

Whereas, water-based recreation is a vital aspect of our State’s identity as a major recreational activity

among Vermonters and visitors to our state, and

Whereas, polluted waters are not accessible waters, do not support aquatic life, and imperil public health, and

Whereas, it is important to improve continuously the quality of Vermont’s waters, and

Whereas, several watershed organizations working in Vermont are engaged in efforts to rid Vermont’s

waters of natural and human-originated debris, and

Whereas, in 2012, one watershed organization, the Rozalia Project, directed a project involving 1,430

participants who picked up 503,317 pieces of marine debris, equaling 88.5 tons from 310 miles of Vermont’s

shoreline, and

Whereas, the Connecticut River Watershed Council mobilized over 1,000 persons and removed over 99 tons

of trash from the Connecticut River and its tributaries, and

Whereas, these are just examples of the outstanding cleanup work that watershed groups are performing, and

Whereas, these groups deserve legislative recognition for their dedication to this worthy endeavor, now

therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:

That the General Assembly commends watershed organizations for their role in river and lake cleanup

activities in Vermont, and be it further

Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to the Rozalia Project in

Granville and to the Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc. in Greenfield, Massachusetts on behalf of its

cooperating Vermont organizations, including 350.org, Black River Action Team, Braintree Conservation

Commission, Farm & Wilderness, Grafton Nature Museum, Greater Upper Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited,

Putney Rowing Club, Randolph Rotary Club, Randolph Technical Career Center, Rockingham Vermont

Conservation Commission, Roundy’s Rascals, Sharon Academy, Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance,

TransCanada, Vermont Department of Labor, Vermont Law School, Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, and

Volunteers for Peace.

The version sent to the recipients is quite beautiful... heavy ivory paper, State Seal in color, gold seal at bottom with State Seal impressed on it... To get an idea as to what it really looks like, go to the Legislative web site and click on "Read a specific House or Senate Resolution" and enter HCR 35 or view here http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2014/resolutn/HCR035.pdf

Other cleanup event and celebration postings:

      Ø  BTV Bike Path/City Beach: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2012/11/btv-bike-path-to-city-beach-good-clean_2.html

Ø  Red Rocks Beach: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2012/08/marine-debris-removed-from-vt-waterways.html

Ø  Green Up Day 2012: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2012/05/south-burlington-green-up-day-2012.html

Ø  Preparing for Green Up Day: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2012/04/green-up-day-2012.html

Ø  Green Up Day Posters: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2012/02/2012-green-up-day-poster-winners.html

Ø  Green Up Day 2011 Windjammer: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2011/05/windjammer-employees-on-green-up-day.html

Ø  Green Up Day- why we do it every year: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2011/04/green-up-day-may-7.html

Ø  Green Up Day – A VT tradition: http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2010/06/tradition-apr-2010.html