Do you ever wonder where pieces of litter end up?  Most likely in the nearest stream.  Wind and rain and gravity itself carry litter and other pollutants downhill … and usually in the mountains the lowest spot is a stream or pond.  Once a year, community-minded volunteers spend a morning pulling that litter and trash from our streams during NC Big Sweep.  In addition to making our streams look more appealing, this effort to keep streams clean and litter free is an economic issue as well as a health-related issue for humans and wildlife.    

In 2006, Mud Creek and nine other streams in Henderson County were relieved of 10,180 pounds (5.09 tons!) of litter during NC Big Sweep.  Twenty-three teams totaling 127 volunteers worked on or before Saturday morning, September 23, digging debris and toting trash out of Mud Creek, Wash Creek, Bat Fork Creek, Johnson's Drainage Ditch, Green River, Clear Creek, King Creek, Shaws Creek, Crab Creek, and Big Hungry.  Covering ten miles of streams, volunteers garnered 191 bags of trash, 52 tires, and other loose items totaling 10,180 pounds.  The event is coordinated in Henderson County by the Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO).

School groups including three Hispanic high school clubs, businesses, municipalities and elected officials, civic groups, and others fanned out across the county to pick up litter and trash from local waterways.  Two teams sponsored by ECO were joined by Project Challenge, Pleasant Hill He-Men, Crooked Creek Property Owners, Hendersonville Rotary Club,  BikeWays bike shop, City of Hendersonville, Town of Laurel Park, Glade Homes (two teams), General Electric, The Cloisters homeowners assoc., Hendersonville High Interact Club, Hendersonville High Outing Club, Shaws Creek Keepers,  the A.I.M. Clubs at Hendersonville, North, and East High, Girl Scout Troop 404, Spectrum Youth Home, Hendersonville High Keywanettes,  and East Henderson High Science Club.

Henderson County Landfill supported the event by weighing the collected trash.  Helpful employees at NC Dept. of Transportation/Division of Highways picked up the volunteers’ piles of roadside refuse and hauled it to the landfill. It took two days and two truckloads to gather up all the debris.  Hard-working volunteers were supplied bottled water donated by Ingles and energy bars donated by Bi-Lo and Go Grocery.  Diamond Brand Outdoors rewarded the volunteers with discount coupons.

Aluminum beer and soft drink cans and glass beer bottles were the overwhelming catch of the day.  The East High Science Club team alone pulled 189 glass bottles and 90 cans along with 24 articles of clothing, 22 pieces of plastic sheeting/tarps, six appliances, 89 food wrappers or containers, 6 tires, and much more  from 1/4 mile of  Big Hungry below the dam.

What were some of the unusual items pulled from county streams and rivers?   Part of a wind surf board, a dead snapping turtle, a truck console, a 1916 Georgia auto registration, a large round metal spool, a complete wooden staircase, aluminum siding, a snorkel, a playhouse, and three bicycles were among the items.

“We thank our brave volunteers who waded in water where most folks wouldn’t choose to have a Saturday morning dip,” said ECO member Bill Garrison, who worked with Jim Wooldridge to coordinate Big Sweep teams and volunteers.  "Frankly, this event is an eye-opener for many of our helpers who don’t know the poor condition of some of our streams until they volunteer for NC Big Sweep.  One fellow said he thought that if more state officials participated, we’d have a ‘bottle bill’ passed by the state legislature in no time.”

Community groups, churches, individuals, businesses, or families interested in caring for a stream year-round should inquire about ECO’s Adopt-a-Stream program by phoning 692-0385 or visiting the ECO web site at www.eco-wnc.org.    #  #  #