[imageframe link=”http://bitly.com/PrjClnStrm” ] Over the last few months, working for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, I have had a chance to experience how local watershed and citizen groups and volunteers work together and respond to a cause like Project Clean Stream. Our partners, local and regional groups like Blue Water Baltimore, the Sassafras River Associations and Friends of Stony Run, just to name a few, do an incredible job of mobilizing a dedicated network of volunteers and inviting others to join us in this annual “spring cleaning for the Bay”.

For the eleventh year, the Alliance is hosting Project Clean Stream in the spring, at stream sites throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with most cleanups occurring Saturday, April 5th. In 2013, more than 7,000 volunteers at 250 sites in six states removed more than 400,000 pounds of trash and debris from area streams![imageframe link=”http://bitly.com/PrjClnStrm” ] Just recently, I found the Friends of Stony Run at the Waverley Farmers Market in Baltimore, MD. Here they were advertising for volunteers to help with their cleanup sites along Stony Run. For those walking by, they talked about caring for local streams that influence the health of the Bay, and the passion they exhibited was contagious. Blue Water Baltimore will once again be working with the Alliance to champion the program in Baltimore City and County. And, the Sassafras River Association is making inspiring strides to expand the number and extent of cleanups throughout the northern portion of Maryland’s eastern shore.[imageframe link=”http://bitly.com/PrjClnStrm” ] Project Clean Stream is an annual event that culminates in a unified day of service to the watershed in hundreds of Chesapeake Bay communities. While the initial impact is a cleaner, safer, more beautiful, and healthier Chesapeake watershed, Project Clean Stream also aims deeper to engage volunteers in a meaningful outdoor experience, connecting them to a piece of nature in their backyard as well as with local watershed and community groups. These groups help to ensure that this one day of work translates into continued involvement in the long-term restoration of the watershed. I have talked to many people who are active in local issues who tell me they got had their first exposure to environmental work at a Project Clean Stream event.

Al Todd, Executive Director for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, has a phrase he uses when talking about environmental stewardship: “People care for what they know and love”. Making that connection locally can lead to a lifetime of volunteerism and support for the Bay.[imageframe link=”http://bitly.com/PrjClnStrm” ] Project Clean Stream depends on the thousands of dedicated volunteers who are so willing to participate year after year. Volunteers and Site Captains (cleanup organizers) have been planning field events since late fall. Site Captains enthusiastically recruit friends or neighbors to take on the challenge. People who have lived their whole lives in neighborhoods join with new arrivals to improve their communities. Parents join together to remove items like refrigerators and tires from wooded areas where their kids play and schools are eager to engage students in a ‘Green Day’ to teach environmental stewardship at an early age.

During my daily commute, I see an unfortunate amount of garbage littering our roads, woods and streams. This problem is a symbol of disregard for the environment but it is one whose damage can be easily reversed. All it takes is for one person to gather some friends or coworkers and set an example for all who pass. This is the idea behind Project Clean Stream.Approximately half of the Project Clean Stream sites established for this year are new streams and parks, registered by site captains who are expanding their reach or have been registered by volunteers from previous cleanups who now want to organize their own cleanup effort. The expanding network of volunteers, friends, coworkers and family in communities represents what the mission of Project Clean Stream is all about.[one_half ][imageframe link=”http://www.perduefarms.com/corporate_responsibility/environmental_stewardship/” ] [one_half ][imageframe link=”https://www.dom.com/corporate/our-commitments/environment/what-we-are-doing” ] Another invaluable part of Project Clean Stream is the support of Business. Businesses within the watershed provide most of the financial backing of Project Clean Stream. Sponsorships from businesses like Perdue Farms and Dominion Power allow the Alliance to support local organizations with training, supplies, logistical support, and volunteer recruitment. Businesses are also engaged in organizing cleanups sites near their workplaces, providing employees with a day of team-building and environmental stewardship. Perdue alone, recruits nearly 1000 of its employees, friends and families to participate. How powerful would it be if all businesses supported their employees for a day of service to the Bay?[imageframe link=”http://bitly.com/PrjClnStrm” ] Dominion employees after volunteering at a Project Clean Stream site.With a few exciting new prospects on the horizon, including a more active way to involve students and teachers both inside and out of the classroom, Project Clean Stream is breaking barriers to engage new communities and continue changing attitudes about the critical need for people to be actively involved in improving the health of watershed communities. We hope you will be involved as well.There are two ways to help with Project Clean Stream.

To volunteer, find a nearby stream or roadside cleanup site to volunteer to pick up trash, tires and other discarded items. All cleanup sites are illustrated on an interactive map on the Project Clean Stream website,http://cleanstream.allianceforthebay.org/.

Volunteers who would like to find out how to create their own cleanup site can visit cleanstream.allianceforthebay.org/start-a-cleanup or contact us here at the Alliance to find out how to become a Site Captain. Because together, we can get the job done!

To learn more about Project Clean Stream, contact Joanna Freeman at jfreeman@allianceforthebay.org or 443-949-0575 .

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