Washington is one of the most river-centric towns on the Lower Missouri River. The beautiful park overlooking the river was the ideal place to hold, not just a huge river clean-up, but also a local river festival highlighting the town's connection to the river.
218 volunteers gathered together to clean-up 15 miles of the Missouri River. With the help of Missouri Department of Conservation and Washington Boat Club, volunteers were shuttled to locations along the river to gather trash and bring it to shore. From hazardous waste to appliances, plastic bottles to tires, 8.42 tons of trash was removed from the banks of Big Muddy! Washington Parks & Rec. Dept. supplied the landfill dumpster and skid steer for moving trash.
We recycled as much trash as possible. Volunteers sorted each bag of trash from the river, removing aluminum, scrap steel and plastic. Billy Froeschner from Sustain Mizzou brought a horse trailer which was half-filled with plastic (our most common item found on the river) to be turned into landscape timbers by Ryan Enterprises. We filled a dumptruck supplied by Franklin Co. Recycling with metal to be recycled. Bernie Arnold of Stream Team 211 hauled away all the tires to be recycled by Tire Shredders Unlimited. See the impressive Trash Tally at the bottom of this page. Also check out our blog about where all the trash went from this clean-up»
The Wyman Center brought 8 canoes and a bunch of volunteers. Big Muddy Adventures brought the massive Clipper Canoe. Several local paddlers rounded out the bunch and cleaned up the stretch of river from Colter's Landing to Washington.
Gloria Attoun once again brought together a host of local and regional organizations together at the Rennick pavilion overlooking the river for a day of education, art, music, good food and celebration of the river. See the impressive list on the right for participating organizations, artists, experts and awesome bands! It was all capped off with an old-time dance jam.
"Trash is a failure of the imagination", and four area metal sculptors proved it at the Festival. Joey Los, Larry Pogue, Patrick McCarty and Greenway Network teamed up with Cee-Kay Welding to turn trash into treasure. The works of art they created were auctioned off by KDHX radio's Jean Ponzi to raise over $1,200 to support Missouri River Relief. Thanks to everyone that created art and bid on it!
Most of the trash came from our March 6tth Mari-Osa Dump Cleanup, along with items found at the Washington Cleanup.
A partial list of items recovered from the Missouri River by volunteers. Our most common items are plastic bottles and bits of styrofoam.
175 large Stream Team bags of trash
84 Tires
7 Refrigerators
1 Washing Machine
1 Large Ice Chest
2 Propane tanks
7 large Chunks o’ Styrofoam (one with a tree growing out of it)
3 Coolers
8 five gallon Plastic Buckets
6 Plastic Tubs
3 five gallon Metal Buckets
6 ½ 55-gallon Metal Drums
1 35-gallon Plastic Barrel
2 Plastic Coffee Pot
4 Boxsprings
1 Couch Frame
1 Bench Seat
4 Metal Chair Frames
4 Plastic Chairs
1 Bed Frame
1 Stove Top in rusted parts
1 6” Plastic Tube
1 Yard Sprayer
1 Light Fixture
1 Porcelain Toilet (in pieces)
1 Car Bumper
1 Car Rim
1 Gas Tank
1 Break Rotor
3 pieces of Carpet
1 Road Cone
1 Toy Slide
1 Hula Hoop
1 Toy Stroller
1 Knee Board
4 sheets of Metal
4 Fence Posts
4” Cast Iron Pipe
2 ft Rail Road Truck
1 syrup coke tank
2 TVs
1 Bug Zapper
1 Computer Monitor
2 Stereos
2 Tarps
2 Wire Rolls
1 large Stop Sign on post
1 Picnic Table
1 Glass Chandelier
1 large antique Light Bulb in a hexagon shape
1 Electric Fireplace
1 Plastic Toy Horse
1 small bag of Poo
1 glass Clorox Bottle
Washington Missourian Coverage
Total Volunteers: 218
Total Trash Tonnage: 8.42 tons
Groups Participating: Kohls Store 1098, Washington Middle School Environmental Club, Lindbergh High School Anatomy Class, Wyman Center, Big Muddy Adventures, Washington Boat Club, Sustain Mizzou, Stream Teams 1875, 3988, 2300, 3550, 3553, 2793, 3762, the mighty 211, 1857, 1857, 3419, 2991, 4123, 3651
Fun Team Names: Alta, Awesome Group, Vacuum Cleaners, River Oysters, Teenage Ninja Turtles, Tree Huggers, the Flying Penguins, River Dolphins, Kresse, The First Team, The Geralds, Team Awesome, The River Rats, River Bi***es, The Mushrooms, Big Nasty, The Knights
Bank of Washington
Washington Boat Club
City of Washington Parks and Rec Dept.
Mike Smith
MO Dept. of Conservation
MO. Dept. of Natural Resources
Food by these great local vendors!
Cafe’ Mosaic
Bob and Pat’s BBQ
Joe’s Deli
Augusta Brewery
Kettle Korn
Music!
Washington High School's "Fretless"
The River Rats
T-Bone
Augusta Bottoms Consort
Old Time Dancing!
Native American Flute
Educational Booths by these great organizations
World Bird Sanctuary
Trash to Art with Joey Los, Patrick McCarthy, Larry Pogue and Joseph Farmer
Wyman Center
Washington Historical Society
Greenway Network
Leftovers, etc.
St. Louis/Midwest Turtle & Tortoise Society
Washington Public Library
Hillermann’s Nursery & Florist
The Open Space Council
U.S. Geological Survey
Operation Clean Stream
Missouri Master Naturalists Program
Missouri Water Patrol
Area Middle School Students
Botanical Walk with Bill Davit
The Craft of Plarning with Debra Jean
Shaw Nature Reserve
Labadie Environmental Organization
Washington Urban Forestry Council
Washington Community Garden
PLUS...a fun toddler area!