In late April 2019, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division (EPD) recognized a dozen volunteer groups, stream cleanup organizers, individuals and businesses as part of the state’s largest volunteer cleanup program, Rivers Alive. The honorees were among those who wade into rivers, lakes and coastal waters each year as part of the continuing statewide campaign to preserve the more than 70,000 miles of Georgia waterways. Over the course of 2018, 23,701 volunteers cleaned nearly 1,170 miles of waterways, removing 495,795 pounds of trash and recyclables. Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (GCB) was proud to be not only among the champions of Georgia’s waterways, but also among those organizations honored at the Rivers Alive awards ceremony. 

“With the help of Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources, GCB is proud to manage the Adopt-A-Stream program on behalf of our county,” said Sumner Gann, Program Manager for Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful. “Through Adopt-A-Stream, we regularly encourage members of the public to become stewards of our local waterways and provide Chemical, Bacterial and Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Workshops to support the program’s impact. We also team up with our friends at the Department of Water Resources to host the annual Great Gwinnett Wetlands to positively affect the health of our local wetlands and waterways. And we’re proud to play a role in events like the Yellow River Trash Bash and Lake Lanier Shore Sweep. Later this year, we’ll dedicate our Great Days of Service to a watershed cleanup event – so it’s clear that the well-being of our watersheds, wetlands and water sources is a major priority in Gwinnett County.”

In addition to Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, other honorees of the Rivers Alive awards ceremony included Chris Thompson of the Yellow River Water Trail, Tritt Elementary, Chattooga County 4-H, Boy Scout Troop 413, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers J. Strom Thurmond Project, Georgia Power Company North GA, Keep Conyers-Rockdale Beautiful, Tucker Civic Association, Keep Liberty Beautiful, The MillerCoors Albany Brewery, and Oglethorpe Power and Affiliates.

“For the past 20 years volunteers, organizers and community partners from all corners of the state have made a positive impact cleaning and protecting Georgia’s waterways,” said EPD Director Richard Dunn in an EPD press release. “Your efforts help spread awareness and initiate action to protect local environments. Thank you to everyone for your hard work and loyal stewardship.”

2018 Rivers Alive Sponsors Included: Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power, Golder Associates, Southwire Company, Perdue, Jones Day, Alston & Bird LLP, Burns & McDonnell, Brown and Caldwell, Dalton Utilities, Engineering 303 LLC, Enterprise Holdings Foundation, ESG Operations Inc., Eversheds Sutherland, Georgia Section of the American Water Works Association, Geosyntec, Goodwyn Mills & Cawood Inc., MEAG Power, NewFields, Shaw Industries Group, and Springer Mountain Farms. Funding from these sponsors allowed Rivers Alive to produce and distribute t-shirts and banners to the volunteers, as well as cleanup materials like trash bags and data collection forms to the event organizers.

To learn more about Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s Adopt-A-Stream program and cleanup events like Great Gwinnett Wetlands, please visit www.gwinnettcb.org.