Community comes together for 28th Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup
Drawing from results collected on AFF’s Trash Network, nearly 10,000 volunteers collected 334,952 pounds of trash at 265 sites throughout the watershed in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and West Virginia.
“I am incredibly proud of the work we were able to do this year to clean up our watershed,” said Lori Arguelles, Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Executive Director. “As the largest regional event of its kind, the Cleanup provides a transforming experience that engages citizens and community leaders and generates momentum for change. I want to thank all of our partners and volunteers for their efforts and commitment to making the Potomac Watershed healthy, clean and trash-free.”
A wide range of litter was removed during the cleanup – including 16,116 plastic bags, 1,003 tires, 14,280 cigarettes, 11 bicycles, car parts and even a bowling ball.
The announcement comes during the first annual Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week, a joint effort by Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to draw national attention to the history and importance of the nation’s largest estuary. The Potomac is one of the largest rivers that flows into the Bay, and littering is a widespread problem in the area.
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 the natural world. The Foundation’s Regional Litter Prevention Campaign empowers communities to “Take Control, Take Care of Your Trash,” and has reduced littering behavior by over 30 percent when comparing target areas before and after the campaign began in 2011.
“What you do every day matters more than what you do only once in a while,” said volunteer Keenan Williams from Charles County, MD.
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, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Joint Base Andrews, Montgomery County Parks and Planning, National Park Service, Prince George’s County, Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, Reston Association, Rock Creek Conservancy and Rock Creek Nature Center.