St. Charles Clean-up Results!

Bishop’s Landing, St. Charles, MO
September 11th, 2010
click here for links to photos and more

photo by Tom Ball

Total Volunteers: 268
MRR Crew: 27
Boats: 11 (4 Missouri River Relief, 3 MO Department of Conservation, 2 U.S. Fish & Wildlife, 2 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
River Miles: 10
River Level: 18.5 feet
Landfill: 2.6 tons
Scrap Metal: 1.4 tons
Recyclables: 1.09 tons
Tires: 107 (1.9 tons)
Total Tonnage: 7 tons!

Stream Teams: 1875, 3176, 211, 500, 1782, 509, 4136, 3668, 3419, 3500, 509 + Francis Howell North & the Crawford Crawdaddies

Volunteer Groups Involved: Lindbergh Highschool Anatomy Class, Francis Howell Highschool Green Community, B-FAB, Alpha Phi Omega, LMI Aerospace, Scout Troops 4334, 975, 1413, 607, Pack 850/Den 3, DHC Global Forwarding, Mid Rivers Ethical Society, Kingdom House Youth Group, River Des Peres Watershed Coalition, Missouri Master Naturalists

Names of River Teams – River Hippies, Trashinators, Troop 975, River Otters, Refrigerators, Trash Busters, Muddy Buddies, Crazy Catfish, The A Team, Bull Sharks, Mud Runners, The Partridges, (Blue, Bleu, Blew), Goon Squad, Ram Rod, Mud Doggers, Weeblos Ponies, Ethica/Waters, Troop 4334, APO, Bad Asses, Rock Stars, Team Unicycle

photo by Tom Ball

Trash Tally!!!!
240 55-gallon Bags of Trash
107 Tires
6 Chunks O’ Styrofoam
½ of a Buoy
12 five-gallon Plastic Buckets
3 five-gallon Metal Buckets
3 55-gallon Metal Drums
3 55-gallon Plastic Barrels
5 Refrigerators
1 Washing Machine
1 Chest Freezer
2 5-gallon Propane Tanks
20+ small Propane Tanks
1 Refrigerator Door
1 Ice Machine
1 Toilet Tank
1 Vacuum Cleaner Hose
1 Baby Bed
333 Yards of Carpet
3 Folding Chairs
2 Gas Cans
1 7-foot Bench
1 Table Top
3 Gas Tanks
2 Mud Flaps
1 Truck Grill
1 Truck Fender (Blue Ford F150)
2 Tail Pipes
1 Axle & Differential
1 Torque Converter
1 Bumper Plate
1 Side Mirror
2 Volley Balls
1 Basket Ball
1 Slolam Ski
100 feet Heavy Wire Cable
1 Heavy Chain
1 Furniture Panel
1 Compressor
1 Refrigerator Shelf
1 Oil Can
1 part of a Deck
1 Fire Extinguisher
1 Ammunition Box
1 Curtain Rod
17 pieces of Rebar
8 pieces of Angle Iron
1 TV Panel
1 42” Flat Screen TV w/ Castors
2 Square Lattice Baskets
1 Deer Head (from a target)
2 Trash Dumpster Lids
1 Landscaping Rim
12 feet of Natural Gas Line
1 Culvert Pipe1
1 MDC “End of Public Use Area” Sign
1 “Caution Wet Floor” Sign
1 Huskers Sign
2 Messages in a Bottle
1 Red Plastic Apple
1 Rubber Ducky – yellow
1 Bocce Ball
2 1-gallon Glass Jugs
2 Enameled Cast Iron Skillet
1 Butcher Knife
1 Dust Mask
1 Hard Hat
1 Naked Baby Doll

Message in a Bottle Found!

On Sept. 11th, 2010 during Missouri River Relief's St. Charles River Clean-up, we found a message in a bottle while sorting through trash that had already been bagged. A small crew of die-hards had remained after lunch to sort through the muddy mess and recycle as much plastic, glass & aluminum as we could. Some unsuspecting volunteer had simply thrown away this most coveted treasure amongst this river cleaning clan!

photo by Tom Ball

Found around river mile 28, here's what it read:
Cooper's Landing is a fun little river-rat hang-out near Columbia, MO along river mile 170, so this bottle traveled about 142 miles over the course of a year and a half!

We will attempt to contact Micha to see where the rest of the treasure is buried! Arrrgh!

It was a good day I say!

2009 Missouri River Relief Trash Totals!!!

From 15 Total Clean-ups involving 2,061 Volunteers, we picked up 57 Tons of Trash!

Here's a partial list of what we plucked out of the Missouri River & her tribs:
926 Bags of Trash (mostly plastic bottles)


370 Bags of Recyclables (plastic & aluminum recycled in communities that would take them)
636 Tires
24 32-gallon trash cans of Broken Glass
42 Chunks o Styrofoam
29 – 5 gallon plastic Buckets, 2 with Tar
9 – 5 gallon metal Buckets
13 – 55 gallon Metal Drums
12 – 55 gallon Plastic Barrel
1 – 300 gallon Diesel Tank

Appliances & Furniture: 115


2 Hot Tubs
3 Couches
8 Hot Water Heaters
5 Freezers
11 Refrigerators
3 Dryers
13 Washing Machines
1 Dishwasher
3 Stoves
9 Propane Tanks
4 Bed Frames
3 Bed Rails
4 Mattresses
1 Head Board
16 Box Springs
26 Chairs & Recliners
2 Folding Tables
1 Table Top

Construction Materials: 165


1 Electric Switch
6 pieces of Electric Wire
15 large metal Plates & Bolts
1 Shovel Spade
2 Road Cones
1 Hand Saw
80 ft of 1” Poly Tubing
10 1-gallon Paint/Varnish Cans
10 ft of Plastic Piping
1 lot Fence Wire
3 Toilets
1 Toilet Float
Several hundred pounds of Roof Shingles
2 Kitchen Sinks
1 Cabinet
3 Window Frames
1 piece of Aluminum Ladder
8 pieces of Carpet
1 Plastic Shelf
1 Electric Panel Box
1 Corner Cabinet
1 big Window with glass in it
1 piece of Corrugated Roof
1 – 9 ft Conduit Drainage Pipe
8 rolls of Fencing
2 Air Tank Compressors
2 huge Culverts
1 Counter Top

Household Items: 596


1 box full of household chemicals
393 Balls including 1 muddy Bowling Ball still in its bag
3 Microwaves
1 Microwave Cart
5 TVs
1 VCR
1 Water Jug
3 Grill Racks
3 Storage Tubs
1 Laundry Hamper
1 Baby Play Pen
1 Welcome Mat
1 Home Depot “green” bag
2 pieces of Carpet Padding
1 piece of Astroturf
2 Sleds
2 pairs of Sunglasses
2 liter Glass Soda Bottle
1 Baby Stroller
1 Pan
1 Tea Cup
2 Teapots
4 Tennis Shoes
5 Croc sandals
3 Boots
27 Flip Flops
23 Lightbulbs
1 My Little Pony Lunch Box
10 feet of Garden Hose
1 Ironing Board
1 Typewriter
1 Fire Extinguisher
13 Mason Canning Jars
2 Push Lawnmowers
8 Fishing Poles
8 Tarps
2 Tents
1 Doll w/out a head
1 twin size Bed Foam
1 Quilt
1 green Tote Box
1 Pet Carrier
1 Tricycle
1 mangled Bicycle
2 bicycle helmets
1 Bicycle Seat
1 cast iron Pot
1 metal Love Seat Swing
1 Oxygen Tank
1 Lamp
1 Snoopy Soap Dish
2 sections of a toy Train Track
1 headless Raccoon Statue
2 Wash Tubs
14 Plant Tray’s
1 Giant Bubble Wand
1wooden Cardinal Lawn Ornament
1 Dog Crate
1 Bird House
1 Bottle of Brut Cologne
3 Baby Bottles
1 Child’s Toilet Seat
1 foam Bert from Sesame Street
1 Sewing Machine
1 mini Ironing Board
1 Baseball Glove
1 toy Cash Register
1 soggy book titled “Shaping History”
The letter “C”
1 decorative Perfume Bottle
1 doggie door
1 toy metal Dump Truck
1 See Saw
1 antique French Fry Cutter
Stationary

Metal: 966.5


334 Pieces of Scrap Metal
397 ft of Cable Wire
30 corrugated Metal Panels
160 ft. of misc. Metal Piping
Several rolls of Barbed Wire
1 Hog Waterer
2” Copper Fitting (Steam)
1 Brush Hog Deck
1 cast iron Furnace Grate
8 welded wire Hog Panels
4 Cow Panels
1 boat full of assorted Wire & Fencing
8 pieces of roofing Sheet Metal
½ of a Pasture Gate
1 Water Tank
1 railroad car Hand Brake Actuator
6 pieces of Rebar
2 8X10 sheets of Plate Metal
6 pieces of Metal Decking
1 Metal Fence with wood posts
3 pieces of Chain Link Fence

Automotive Parts & Pieces: 50.5


2 car Wheels
1 railroad Car Spring
1 Jeep Tail Gate
2 Gas Tanks
1 John Deere Tractor cover
1 Car Door
4 Car Bumpers
1 truck Mud Flap
7 Headlights
2 Trailer Lights
1 truck Bed Liner
2 Antifreeze Jugs
1 Car Radio
1 large Car Battery
1 metal Gas Can
1 old metal Radio Transmitter
1Car Fender
1 massive Brake Drum
½ of a car Front End-Grill & Headlight
1 Alternator
1 Crank Shaft
1 Car Seat Springs
2 Tail Pipes
1 Drive Shaft
1 Tractor Gear Box
1 Air Filter for tractor
4 Hub Cap’s
1 Fender from Antique Truck
1 ancient Boat Motor
1 Sideview Mirror
1 Rearview Mirror
1 Auto Grill
1 1966 Iowa Licence Plate
1 1948 blue Buick Roadmaster Hood

Signs: 8


1 “No Wake” sign
1 Union Pacific Railroad sign
1 MO 98 Road Sign
1 shot-up Sign that reads: “$50 Reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of any person or persons found willfully mutilating or destroying this sign. The O.J. Gude Co. NY”
1 Street Sign that said “Stoney Brook Rd” on one side, and “Stoner” on the other side
3 Street Signs

Miscellaneous: 53


3 Messages in a Bottle
18 Coolers
6 Buoys
1 very ugly Old Woman Rubber Mask
1 Lock Pick Set
1 Park Bench
1 – 14 ft Fiberglass Boat
2 pieces of Barge Rope
1 Camp Stove
1 Shopping Cart
1 Woman’s Purse found – no I.D.
1 Newspaper Dispenser
1 LONG plastic pole with a huge fishing hook on the end (a gaff)
1 ceramic Elephant Eye
1 Duck Decoy
1 Duck Decoy Head
1 Goose Decoy Head
1 Door to a Duck Blind
1 Pogo Stick
1 Bowling Pin
1 full Can of Beer-Miller Lite
1 minnow Fishing Lure
2Computer Monitors
1 Bridge Decking
1 small U.S. Flag
1 Tin of wet Snuff
1 polished Native Copper Stone from Santa Rita, NM

Trash Tally & Results!

Siouxland Missouri River Clean-up

Chris Larson Park, Sioux City IA
June 27, 2009

Total Volunteers: 182
MRR Crew: 23
Boats: 11 (4 Missouri River Relief, 1 Army Corps of Engineers, 2 Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 4 Nebraska Game and Parks)
River Miles: 12 (10 miles on the Missouri River from river mile 728-738, 2 miles starting at the mouth of the Big Sioux)
River Level: 16.7 feet on the USGS real-time Sioux City gage
Landfill Tons: to be announced
Scrap Tons: to be announced
Tires: 7
Total Tonnage: to be announced

Trash Tally!!!!

97 bags of trash
7 tires
4 chunks of styrofoam
2 55 gallon metal drums
2 refrigerators
4 washers
2 hot water heaters
1 chest freezer
1 propane tank
1 microwave
1 microwave cart
1 mattress
1 box spring
2 bed rails
1 recliner
1 folding chair
1 1948 light blue Buick Roadmaster hood
1 1966 Iowa license plate
2 car bumpers
1 side view mirror
1 rearview mirror
1 auto grill
2 wooden pallets
1 pvc pipe
5 pieces of lumber
33 metal strips
3 metal pipes
5 metal hunks
36 feet of steel cable
3 pieces of chain link fence
6 pieces of rebar
1 water tank
1 burner
1 grill
2 8X10 sheets of plate metal
1 bridge decking
6 pieces of metal decking
1 metal fence with wood posts
Farm fencing
2 televisions
1 computer monitor
1 pogo stick
1 No Wake sign
1 Private Property Union Pacific Railroad sign
1 golf ball
1 doggie door
1 railroad car hand brake actuator
1 tin of wet snuff
1 pale yellow toilet bowl
1 duck decoy head
1 computer monitor
1 small U.S. Flag
stationary
1 polished native copper stone from Santa Rita, NM
1 minnow fishing lure
1 full can of beer-Miller Lite
1 football
1 plaid lawn chair
1 crab skeleton

Best darned find of the day, a rusty old pogo stick

Little Hands in the Sand (part deux)

Yankton Missouri River Clean-up

Yankton, S.D.
May 17, 2008

(blogmaster note: last year, Ruthie Moccia wrote a great piece about her encounter with Jordan, a young man who found an ancient tractor wheel on the Yankton 07 clean-up. This May (2008), Ruthie returned to Yankton with us and wrote this piece about her experience. Click here to read Ruthie's post from last year.)

text by Ruthie Moccia. photos by Ruthie Moccia & Melanie Cheney

The ‘08 Yankton cleanup was my first revisit to a cleanup site since joining River Relief two years ago. What made the long road trip most worthwhile this year was reuniting with Jordan who accomplished the amazing last year by persistently digging around an enormous iron tractor wheel until it was completely unearthed and could be claimed by the trash tally.

During registration I spotted Jordan and his two young brothers dressed in their heather blue '08 volunteer tee shirts. Instead of aimlessly exploring the water's edge, the boys were eagerly awaiting trash bags and gloves and it appeared Jordan had also invited several friends along to participate. Their excited faces made me proud to be the one to hand them the necessary items and send them off down the ramp.

Jordan and his buddies check out a bike they found at the cleanup this year. photo by Melanie Cheney.

Later, when I sensed my cleanup crew’s boat was nearing last year's campground I also realized that the water level was too low to dock there. I needed to see that place again. I deboarded in the sandy mud and hiked toward it by keeping the Benedictine bell tower on the other side of the river always within my view. I didn’t know the way exactly, but clearly that tower with it's marvelous tones was a landmark for me. I would know immediately when I'd reached the exact location of last year’s campsite by the view across the river.

Suddenly, unmistakable familiar shapes of landscape brought back the memories. The flat sandy beach at the river's edge where the water had risen overnight to cover our cookware, a triangle of driftwood logs where we sang hilarious songs and played music around the fire, a flat space between two cedars where I had pitched my borrowed tent, the tip-top grassy edge of a dune I had climbed to scavenge an abandoned bracelet made of wooden beads and twine. It was a wonderfully nostalgic moment.

Overall my warmest memory of Yankton, however, is Jordan. What is it about a friendly face in a far away place? I threw the bead bracelet away many months ago, but Jordan's excited smile will stay with me.

Here's Jordan in 2007 excavating the old wheel he found. photo by Ruthie Moccia.

Adventures Unfold when there are Treasures to Behold

By Melanie Cheney
“One man’s trash is another man’s Treasure” –who ever said that, they were right on

It’s unsettling when you are just floating down the river or driving the beautiful river road for pleasure, and your mates call out, Refrigerator! Tire! Like raptors with a keen eye for their prey. Our group has definitely become familiar with the science of trashology on the Big Muddy since taking a 754 mile journey down the Missouri River in 2006. Mapping where trash accumulates, where the densest populations occur, and how it just keeps booking it downstream toward the Mississippi, then the Gulf, and then I imagine to the huge plastic gyres accumulating in the ocean. It’s a sad & daunting task being river cleaners, yet wildly gratifying at the same time. You are physically making a difference before your very eyes, and when hundreds of volunteers get together for one of our events, we literally pick up tons of trash, and recycle much of it when we can.

So the best part of being in a group like this are the adventures we take on this wild river. She’s definitely got a mind of her own, and you just have to know the river and work with her. The river rises & falls sometimes several feet in one day. It’s moving stuff around constantly, washing trash down, and piles of driftwood & debris build up to form big whirlpools that later settle down in an inlet, behind a wing dike, or trail dike. Here is where there is usually a big refrigerator or buoy mixed in with the big trees & limbs, tires, coolers, gas cans, light bulbs amazingly fully in tact, and a million plastic & glass bottles in the mix.

These piles are my absolute favorite thing to clean. Not only are they kinda fun to walk around on, balancing and carefully stepping on and over the debris, and carefully making sure you won’t fall through into the bottomless pitt of mud or water, but you can find some of the strangest treasures in there. Some of my favorite finds have been a glass jar sealed full of dry bay leaves (for that one I got the most fragrant trash award), or one time I found a full jar of after sun aloe cream, and after most of our crew got burned that day, we ended up using it for our poor fried faces. I found a magic 8 ball once, and my latest great finds were a coconut carved out into a monkey’s head and a perfectly intact bow saw. Once I was working the ramp and a girl walked off the river with a dozen yellow roses, real ones, and they were beautiful! You just never know what you’ll find out there, as disgusting as it can be, it is truly amazing at the same time.

One thing we are always sure to find on a clean up is a message in a bottle. In the last month, we have found a bottle with a $5 bill in it, and at least 3 other messages. Most of them just have a note that states their name & contact info. & where they threw it in, hoping you’ll write back to see how far it has traveled. Some however are silly or naughty. Those are rare, but the good ones. We found one once that said “Eat at Joe’s” then it had appeared as if someone had found it and wrote “Joe’s sucks” and threw it back in. Another message we had waited to read to the crowd at the Osage clean-up during lunch, upon opening it, much of it was too racy to read aloud, oh but the look on their faces, and the crowd laughing, that was priceless.

photo by Tim Cheney

Stay posted on the blog for our ever so interesting trash tally’s post clean-up, or check out year’s past. Despite having fun finding these treasures and having full on job security with cleaning the Big Muddy, I hope our society will become more conscious of what they are sending downstream. To join a river clean up in your area, check out the stream team’s website to find one near you, they’re also coming out with a schedule in next month’s Conservationist Magazine, or form a Stream Team of your own and start pickin up that trash!