New Haven Missouri River Cleanup 2024

Thursday morning, the MRR education team led a program with the Veteran Affairs: Substance Abuse Unit. The morning was spent with a boat ride, sharing stories and learning about the Missouri River. The afternoon was spent catfishing off sandbars along the river. A few fish were caught while taking in the tranquility of the nature surrounding them. Thank you to Veterans United Foundation for sponsoring this experience!

VA participants catfishing of the sandbars of the MO River. Photo by Lara Cox.

Thursday evening, MRR boats were splashed to take partners and friends out for a sunset cruise. After the boat ride, dinner was served at Paddle Stop Brewery. It was a fantastic evening sharing each other’s company. Many praises to Shane from Paddle Stop for hosting a hearty dinner.

Friday morning was the trash scout! Crew set out on boats to search the banks of the Missouri River for trash, then marking those sites. These pre-scouted sites are then marked on maps for the dispatch team to use to determine where to send operators with their groups during the Saturday cleanup.

Festivities were brewing in the small historic river town of New Haven. After the crew meeting Friday evening, the MRR team set off to check out the Scarecrow Festival in the downtown area. 100’s of glowing pumpkins and decorated scarecrows were set around every corner, and small businesses opened their doors with fun activities.

MRR crew checking out the festival and posing in front of a staircase full of pumpkins. Photo by Lara Cox.

Saturday was the big day! The MRR crew and event staff set off towards the boat ramp to start the setup for the cleanup. Fog set over the river, making the span of the river totally invisible. Just as volunteers began to arrive, the fog lifted! 90 mighty volunteers arrived eager to board boats to head to sites along the banks of the Missouri River. After a couple hours, the boats returned with volunteers. Everyone was prompted to bring their interesting trash finds to submit into our lively Trash Contest. Delicious chili from Lang-a-Tang Café and Catering was served and refreshments from Pepsi Bottling were shared with volunteers.

After volunteers returned to the boat ramp and enjoyed lunch, they also had the opportunity to participate in our Clean Rivers Start at Home and Missouri River Explorer Badge programs. It was a site to see volunteers water coloring and reading books along the riverfront! The Trash Contest was entertaining as ever, with everyone cheering for their trash treasures to win a prize.

Volunteers returning from their sites by the boatload. Photo by Kevin Tosie.

After all the activities, MRR crew set back out to the river to haul back all the trash that was collected. Some crew members were additionally tasked to clean up a untouched sites. New Haven Public Works joined in the effort in helping offload the boatloads of trash coming into the boat ramp. The crews’ backs really appreciate the addition of a front-end loader from Public Works to get the tons of trash into the 40-cubic yard roll-off dumpster. An additional thank you to Republic Services for their continued support in donating dumpster services to our cleanup efforts!

A boat with a haul of trash returning to the ramp. The front end loader waits at the ramp. Photo by Steve Schnarr.

Missouri River Bird Observatory arrived to start the Brand Audit, siphoning through bags as the loads of trash came in. So much gratitude goes to MRBO for bringing this important piece of the efforts to the cleanup operations. The data that is collected is submitted to Break Free From Plastic to identify the world’s top polluting corporations. Click here to learn more about Brand Audits and how to be a part of this international effort!

Saturday evening, the crew celebrated the tons of trash collected. In all, 130 volunteers made this effort possible. Over 3.5 tons of trash were removed from 10 miles of the Missouri River. Not only is it a goal to remove this trash, but we stive to connect communities to this important resource. Thank you so much to all our volunteers, partners, and sponsors who made MRR’s last cleanup of 2024 possible.

Be sure to check out our trash tally from the cleanup below!

MRBO poses in front of the dumpster with the new banner for the Brand Audit efforts. Photo by Lara Cox.

Trash Tally:

114 Bags Trash!
Plus…
14 tires on rims
2 tires w/out rims
1 truck tire inner tube
1 500-gal poly-stock tank (in 4 pieces)
1 freezer
2 propane tanks
1 trundle bed frame with chicken wire extensions
4 large Styrofoam chunks
4 coolers
1 hot water heater (rusted)
3 5-gal plastic buckets
2 55-gal metal drums
9 55-gal plastic barrels
7 20-gal plastic tubs
2 1-gal gas containers
1 50-lb concrete tractor weight
1 milk crate
1 dish drainer
1 ice cream maker top
1 and 2 half lawn chairs
1 plastic chair with no legs
1 child’s car seat
1 headless manikin (no arms or toes either)
1 comb
1 rubber hose
2 televisions
1 computer monitor
1 plastic car fender
1 race car bumper
1 boat fender
1 steering column
1 transmission planetary gear
1 fence post
1 pool liner
1 chain saw case
1 fire extinguisher
1 plastic toy box shaped like a football
1 boxing glove
1 half squirt gun
1 soccer ball
1 football
2 basketballs
2 soccer balls
1 pickle ball
1 hard ball
1 soft ball
3 PVC pipes
5 pieces rusted cable wire
2 rebar
1 corrugated pipe
1 length heavy rope
1 ball twine
1 large cable
1 buoy
1 fishing net with weights
1 horseshoe
1 catfish fin
1 bird skeleton
2 deer skulls (one antler and 2 antlers)
1 armadillo shell
1 plastic bull
1 2-wheeler child’s bike
1 child’s helmet
1 reflector
1 Christmas bulb
1 pair googly eyes
1 baby tennis shoe
1 flip flop
1 bottle “Born to Glow” NY makeup
1 pink highlighter
1 unopened can blond ale
assorted pirate earrings
assorted dinosaur bracelets