Brunswick Missouri and Grand River Cleanup 2012

Brunswick River Access - Brunswick, MO
Saturday, May 19th, 2012

This was our first time cleaning up the river near Brunswick, and we had no idea what to expect. But as planning proceeded, it became obvious that people in Brunswick love their river and they love helping out with community projects. This ended up being a really special event. 120 volunteers helped clean up the river - which is outstanding for a first clean-up in a community this size.

Even though school had officially ended the week before, students, teachers and administrators from Brunswick High School came out in force. A group of native American students from Haskell University in Kansas were in Brunswick on their way walking to Washington, DC to protest the destruction of a wetland near their school, and came to help scout the river for trash. Missouri American Water employees from Parkville, St. Joseph, Brunswick, Jefferson City and St. Louis all joined in. And families from the area pitched in to help as well.

Biologists from the Dept. of Conservation showed up the night before to set nets and capture live river fish for an educational display for the kids. They also took groups of volunteers out on the river for the clean-up, adding to River Relief’s fleet of boats.

We cleaned up spots on 13 miles of the Missouri and 3 miles of the Grand River. Everyone was stunned with how much trash was removed from the river, and proud of what they accomplished.

A wonderful lunch was served by Girl Scout Troop 70835 and their mothers. Then everyone gathered for a rocking Trash Contest and a talk about the Lower Grand River Watershed by Mary Culler of the Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources.

The afternoon was spent bringing all the trash to shore, followed by a community fish fry and some well deserved relaxation for the volunteers.

With community support like that, we know we’ll be back in Brunswick!!!

Trash Tally:

116 Bags of Trash! And...

45 Tires on the Rim
2 Large Truck Tires
6 Large Styrofoam
3 Refrigerators
2 Chest Freezers
3 Propane Tanks
1 Hot Tub
1 Fiberglass Boat in pieces
2 Coolers
1 1-gal. Plastic Jug
5 5-gal. Plastic Buckets
1 5-gal. Metal Bucket
4 ½ - 55 gal. Metal Drums
2 ½ 55-gal. Plastic Barrels
5 Plastic Tubes
1 Tool Box (empty)
2 22-foot Irrigation Pipes
1 Barge Line
1 partial Kiddie Pool
10 pieces of misc. scrap metal
1 Gas Tank to a car
1 Mud Flap to an 18-wheeler (Des Moines, IA)
2 Pipe Brackets
5 Long Pipes
1 Paint Can
1 Fence Post
1 Pig Feeder Lid
1 Garage Can Lid
1 piece of Rebar
1 Buoy
1 – 8 mm Film Container
5 Chunks O’ Plastic
1 Corrugated PVC Pipe
1 Price Chopper Shopping Cart
8 ft of Plastic Tubing
1 Daisy Flip Flop
1 Pool Slide
1 Soccer Ball
1 Basket Ball Goal
1 Petrified Rubber Ball
1 Turquoise Snow Sled (plastic)
1 Plastic Hand Grenade
1 Christmas Ornament
1 Toy Rocket Ship
1 Bubble Wand
1 Toy Steering Wheel
2 Toy Slides
1 Chest Freezer
1 Oil Drum
1 Igloo Dog House
1 Truck Tire
3 Propane Tanks
1 Old Green Glass Bottle
1 Large Antique Light Bulb
2 Old Glass Bottles
1 Mario Ball
1 Hair Roller-Curler
1 Porcelain Bottle
1 Duck Decoy with moving wings
1 Goose Decoy
1 Deer Skull
1 lime green Softball
1 Headlight
1 Butterfly Stencil
1 Hair Tonic glass bottle
1 partial yellow foam Life Jacket
1 Absinthe Glass Bottle
1 Mop Bucket
1 Fire Extinguisher
1 Coleman Water Jug
1 Drink Pitcher & Cup
1 Soccer Ball
1 Hard Hat