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.
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
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
Total Volunteers: 309
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