Last weekend, people from all over the coutry came together to volunteer on the River! Each of these volunteers recruits River Citizens in their home states, and came from as far away as Mississippi to brave the flustery April winds of the Twin Cities.
The clean-up event focused not only on traditional ideas of litter, but also on organic materials like leaves and twigs. It may seem strange to clean the streets of organics, but “five bags of leaves and organic debris can contain as much as a pound of phosphorus, a nutrient that can feed 1,000 pounds of algae. The algae, besides leading directly to eutrophication of local waterways, contribute to the Gulf of Mexico’s ‘Dead Zone,'” according to Pat Nunnally, local River leader.
The group of volunteers cleaned up 35 bags of organic material, recyclables and flat-out waste, on top of recruiting more River Citizens to the cause.
To read more about this event, read Pat Nunnally’s Blog, River Talk.