Sweep the Hooch Clears Record-Breaking Amount of Trash

Patch Staff Report

This year’s Sweep the Hooch -- the largest one-day river cleanup in metro Atlanta -- delivered its greatest amount of trash totals since the event began four years ago. Some 580 volunteers pulled 7.3 tons of refuse from in and around the Chattahoochee River. Dedicated volunteers were able to collect this volume of trash despite high water levels in some areas.

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK), together with the National Park Service and the Upper Chattahoochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited, organized the multi-site cleanup on April 12. Walkers, waders and paddlers fanned out across 28 sites and spent half a day pulling trash and debris along vast sections of the river. An untold number of tires, plastic bottles, tennis balls, toys and other items were hauled away.

“We at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area sincerely appreciate the efforts of all of the volunteers and sponsors in cleaning up the river and trails here,” Bill Cox, superintendent of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, said in a news release. “This kind of civic involvement led to the creation of this National Park Service unit back in 1978. It’s great to see this kind of spirit is still alive and well in metro Atlanta.”

Organizers are happy so many Georgians joined to clean the Chattahoochee River this past Saturday. This dedication is a testament to the great outreach of so many environmental groups and partners. Thanks to more volunteers and cleanup sites, the record-breaking 7.3 tons collected is more than half of last year’s total.

“In CRK’s 20 years, more than 800 tons of trash have been removed from the river system due to our efforts, said Tammy Bates, Sweep the Hooch event organizer and CRK’s outings manager. “Our job is not done yet, and we plan to be back in 2015 for another dynamic cleanup.”

A special thank you goes to our 2014 sponsors: American Rivers, Cox Media Group, Hewlett-Packard Company, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, KEEN, PTS Screen Printing and Embroidery, REI, Republic Services, River Network, The Home Depot Foundation and WEG Electric Corporation.