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St. Charles Missouri River Cleanup 2017

Lewis & Clark Boathouse - St. Louis, MO
Saturday, September 16th, 2017

A Big Muddy thanks to the 309 volunteers who turned out to clean-up the Missouri River on Sept. 16, 2017!  Nearly 5 tons of trash were removed from our river environment, including 107 tires!

Over the years, we have met some amazing volunteers in the St. Louis area and have enjoyed working with our partners there to help beautify this gorgeous stretch of the Big Muddy.

We were totally blown away when over 100 of those 300 volunteers turned out to be kids! --shout outs to Cub Scout Pack 186, Pack 376, American Cricket Association, STAR, Girl Scouts Brownie Troop 2299, Saint Louis Science Center Yes Program, Girl Scout Troop 755, Baden Powell 66th Confluence, Leadership & Resiliency Program, Ameristar, Bank of America and Boeing for bringing volunteers. 

girl scouts 2017 st. charles cleanup
Girl Scout Brownie Troop 2299 listening to the Orientation talk. Photo by Brian Waldrop.  

Missouri River Relief hosted the cleanup with massive help from Missouri Stream Teams - League of Watershed Guardians, Arnold Stream Team 211 and the Lewis & Clark Boathouse & Nature Center. Beasley Fish Market, Mo. Dept. of Conservation and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service brought boats and skilled boat operators and Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers who took trailer load after trailer load of tires from the cleanup. 

The effort was sponsored by Pat Jones, Rio Vista Fund, Hulston Family Foundation, Missouri American Water, Open Space Council, St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, Great Rivers Greenway, Greenway Network, Lewis & Clark Boat House and Nature Center, Beasely Fish Market, Trailhead Brewing Co., Domino’s Pizza, Diggit Graphics, Kabob N Kurry, City of St. Charles, St. Charles Parks & Recreation, St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau, Republic Services, Missouri Stream Team, Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers

2017 st. charles cleanup scout map
The sites we take volunteers out to are prescouted the day before on a master map. This is done for each cleanup! Photo by Francis Baum.

Trash Tally:

214 Bags Trash!! Plus…

102 tires on rims
2 tractor-trailer tires on rim
2 tires w/out rim
1 wheel rim
1 tire tread
1 motorcycle with detached gas tank
1 large metal gas tank
3 propane tanks
2 vehicle bumpers
1 aluminum Osage canoe bent in two
10 large chunks of Styrofoam (largest 6’ x 5’ x 3’)
1 metal door
1 freezer door
1 toilet seat
1 refrigerator
5 coolers
1 wheelchair footrest
3 outdoor chairs
wood paneling
7 and 1/2 buoys
1 7’ hollow metal post with stand
1 piece of culvert
1 12’ steel cable
1 35-gallon Rubbermaid tub
7 5-gallon plastic buckets
3 50-gallon drums
1 feed barrel
2 deer feeding stations
3 traffic cones and traffic cone stand
1 orange plastic planter (very large, very ugly)
1 circular saw blade
1 shot gun shell
1 arrowhead point
1 staple gun
1 knife
1 rib bone
1 seashell
3 muddy balls
1 mud handprint
1 can carpet cleaner
1 pop up tent (well, we trashed it ourselves)
3 powerball tickets
1 comb
1 roll of tape
1 teether
1 car grill
1 motorcycle
1 chair
Bag fulls of old glass bottles
1 red ball
1 staple gun
1 roll of tar paper
2 flip flops
1 bald mannequin head
1 Happy Joes hoodie
1 shoe mold insert
1 message in a bottle
1 staple gun
1 headlight
1 can of wd-40
1 first aid kit

2017 st. charles cleanup
It takes several pairs of hands to remove larger items from the muddy banks. Photo by Melanie Cheney.
St. Charles Cleanup Results

Photo album on Flickr

Photo album on Facebook

Total Volunteers: 309

  • Volunteers signed in: 265
  • River Relief Crew: 42
  • Boats: 12 (4 MRR, 5 MDC, 2 Beasley Brothers Fishing Co.)
  • River Miles Cleaned: 9 (MM 25 – MM 34)
  • River Stage: 10.6-ft. @ St. Charles gauge
  • Landfill: 2.5 tons
  • Scrap Metal: 0.5 tons
  • Tires: 107 - 1.85 tons

Total Trash Tonnage: 4.85 tons

Groups Participating: Missouri River Relief, Missouri Stream Teams - #1875, #5454, #211, #168, #4660, #5168 – League of Watershed Guardians, Open Space Council, Pack 186, Cub Scout Pack 376, American Cricket Association, STAR, Girl Scouts Brownie Troop 2299, Saint Louis Science Center Yes Program, Girl Scout Troop 755, Baden Powell 66th Confluence, Bank of America, Boeing, Leadership & Resiliency Program, Ameristar, Boeing 

Fun Team Names: Team Awesome, Animal Lovers, River Otters, Unicorn, Liquid Leaders, Sail the River, Trash Destroyers, Sea 5, Timber Wolf, Tinker Fairies, Trash Finders, Ram Rod, River Rats, Wolves, River Tigers, Raptors, Cats, Yes Teen Ambassadors, Tacos

A Big Muddy Thank You To Our Event Sponsors:

2017 Sustaining Sponsors

Pat Jones

Rio Vista Foundation

Hulston Family Foundation

"Bald Eagle" Event Sponsors

Missouri American Water

"Paddlefish" Event Sponsor

Department of Natural ResourcesMissouri Department of Conservation

"Pallid Sturgeon" Event Sponsor

In-Kind Sponsors

Event Partners

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This website is created and maintained by Missouri River Relief, P.O. Box 463, Columbia, MO 65205
MRR is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Federal Tax ID (EIN) 03-0425187
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