Jefferson City Cleanup 2009

Noren Access - Jefferson City, Missouri
Friday, September 19th, 2009

As the capstone event to our River Camp 2009, we pulled up stakes and headed to our state capitol, Jefferson City, for a massive river clean-up. It was our first time back since 2004, and the locals came out in force to help out.

Because 2009 is the 20th Anniversary of Missouri Stream Team, we've decided to dedicate this event to celebrating this amazing birthday. After cleaning up the river in the morning, Stream Team biologist Sherry Fischer demonstrated big river water quality monitoring techniques for a group of volunteers and Eldon High School students.

Thanks to help from US Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, the University of Missouri and several local boaters, we got over 270 volunteers out on the river to pick up trash. Over 5 1/2 tons of it! Volunteers returned for a lunch partially donated by Central Bank and catered by Schulte's IGA. We held a trash contest and got to listen to tunes by River Relief favorite Naked Dave as well as Dr. Chordate.

Plus, it was International Talk Like A Pirate Day, so there were plenty of "Avasts" and "Arrrrrs" to keep things spicy!

Thanks to donated services by Civic Recycling (and the tireless dedication of our sorting crew) we sorted all trash bags into recyclable plastic, aluminum and glass. Civic is one of the only recycling businesses that will gladly accept our river-ravaged recyclables and we can't thank them enough for their efforts.

Check out our blog and flickr photo file for more about this awesome clean-up event.

Because we sorted each bag of trash, we came up with a huge tally sheet from this event...here it is:

Trash Tally

235 Bags of Trash
1 Refrigerator door
1 Chest Freezer
1 Hot Water Heater
2 Propane Tanks
1 Push Mower
2 Microwaves
9 Chunks o Styrofoam
2 Coolers
6 – 5 gallon Plastic Buckets, 2 with Tar
1 – 5 gallon Metal Bucket
3 – 55 gallon Metal Drums
1 – 55 gallon Plastic Barrel
1 – 300 gallon Diesel Tank (won "Biggest Trash Find" Award)
1 TV
2 Mattresses
1 Bedframe
4 Chairs
1 Chair Frame
1 Table Top
1 Folding Table
2 Antifreeze Jugs
1 Car Radio
2 pieces of Carpet
1 Cardboard Tube
1 Doll w/out a head (Winner of "Wierdest Trash")
1 Pogo Ball
1 Woman’s Purse found – no I.D.
1 large Car Battery
1 Tarp
1 twin size Bed Foam
1 Quilt
1 large Light Bulb
1 green Tote Box
1 Stairway Post
1 large plastic Trash Can
1 Buoy
1 Pet Carrier
1 Plastic Shelf
1 Electric Panel Box
3 big flat pieces of Scrap Metal
1 Corner Cabinet
2 Stove Pipes
1 metal Car Rim
1 Newspaper Dispenser
1 metal Gas Can
9 metal Pipes
1 Porch Railing
2 Wire Cables
1 piece of Corrugated Roof
1 Oxygen Tank
1 – 9 foot Conduit Drainage Pipe
14 Plant Tray’s
1 Bike Helmet
1 Duck Decoy
1 Goose Head Decoy
5 Headlights
2 Trailer Lights
1 Giant Bubble Wand
1 Wooden Cardinal Lawn Ornament
150 assorted Balls to including 1 muddy Bowling Ball still in its bag
1 Bowling Pin
1 Dog Crate
1 Rabbit Waterer
1 Bicycle Seat
1 Street Sign that said “Stoney Brook Rd” on one side, and “Stoner” on the other side (Winner of "Funniest Trash")
1 Bird House
1 Bottle of Brut Cologne
3 Baby Bottles
1 Tennis Shoe
1 Child’s Toilet Seat
1 Toilet Float
1 foam Bert from Sesame Street
1 small Cowboy Boot
1 Message in a Bottle (from a kid in Kansas City)
1 – 14 foot Fiberglass Boat