Thousands of residents come together for the 29th Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup
On April 8, thousands of residents came out to kick off the 29th Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup by picking up trash and litter in their communities. Led by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, this month-long effort is one of the largest regional events of its kind, covering Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and bringing together hundreds of community organizations.
“The event is transformative for citizens and community leaders alike,” said Lori Arguelles, Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Executive Director. “Last year, we saw nearly 10,000 volunteers collect more than 300,000 pounds of trash at 265 sites. It’s an honor and a privilege to thank all of our partners and volunteers for their efforts and commitment to making the places we live, work and play healthy, clean and free of trash.”
Cleanups will continue across the region throughout the month of April. A wide range of litter has been sighted and removed so far – including plastic bags, tires, cigarettes, bicycles, car parts and more. Anyone who is interested in participating in the Cleanup this month is invited to visit PotomacCleanup.org to find a cleanup site near them, or to host their own.
“The numbers are still coming in, but just on April 8, volunteers collected hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash,” said Laura Cattell Noll, program lead for Alice Ferguson Foundation Trash Free Potomac Initiative. “In the almost three decades that we’ve been organizing this cleanup, we have seen 145,000 volunteers remove 7 million pounds of trash – that’s the equivalent weight of 250 school buses!”
The annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup is one of many of the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s programs designed to promote environmental sustainability in the region and connect people to their local watershed. The Foundation’s Regional Litter Prevention Campaign empowers communities to “Take Control, Take Care of Your Trash,” and led to a 30% reduction in observable littering behavior in the targeted District of Columbia neighborhoods between 2013 and 2015. Another program, Trash Free Schools, engages more than 2,000 students annually from more than 20 schools throughout the DC metro region.
Several hundred organizations and groups partner in the Cleanup each year, including Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Anacostia Watershed Society, C&O Canal Association, Charles County Public Works, City of Alexandria, DC Department of Energy and Environment, Fairfax County Government Center, Friends of Accotink Creek, Friends of Little Hunting Creek, Friends of Noyes Park, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Joint Base Andrews, Montgomery County Parks and Planning, National Park Service, Path to Greatness, the Potomac Conservancy, Prince George’s County, Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, Reston Association, Rock Creek Conservancy, Rock Creek Nature Center, and many others.
The Alice Ferguson Foundation connects people to the natural world, sustainable agricultural practices, and the cultural heritage of their local watershed through education, stewardship, and advocacy. Learn more at old-ferguson.lndo.site