It really strikes the curiosity when digging up trash that washed ashore on a lake or creek. You could imagine yourself sort of a domesticated archeologist. Where did this come from? How did it end up here? All this dreck has a story. Of course some debris is more interesting than others, a plastic bag you fish out isn't going to make you wonder as much as a ceiling fan. But if you think about it, at one point it served some sort of purpose for someone. What will we fish out next? Questions that I'm sure arise for the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper organization as they set out for their biannual shoreline sweeps.
For the past twenty years the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper organization has made efforts to dig the trash and tidy up all your local waterways and lakes. With goals to make cleaner water for the environment and comfortable viewing for better scenery the riverkeepers recruit local volunteers who take pride in their community. The Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper shoreline sweep is a part of the Great American Cleanup, which is an annual nationwide attempt between March 1st and May 31st to get people involved in cleaning up their communities. And it seems to be catching on, according to the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper website Spring of 2009 proved to have the largest amount of volunteers to date. With numbers totaling around 1300 people, volunteers came out to show their support and sweep through their 37 designated locations in the Buffalo Niagara region.
The Spring 2010 shoreline sweep was my second time volunteering for this event. I had first heard about it in Fall 2009 through a facebook invite. Both times I've volunteered has been for the Hoyt Lake location. It seemed like a good idea despite the 8:30 am Saturday morning commitment tied to it. But the way I figured, I frequent the park a lot whether it be walking with a friend or cruising through it on bicycle, so of course why not give back a little bit. If you're looking for something entertaining to do and for some self satisfaction this shoreline sweep is a good option. Go down there with friends, make new ones, amuse the people around you with your findings. It's a great start to your day and you're getting the satisfaction of doing a positive thing for your community. Each sweep runs for a short three hours, though this seasons was cut an hour short due to the freezing weather conditions.
After the sweep volunteers are invited to the American Legion Post on Amherst Street for a cook out. Hot dogs, chips, and cookies are laid out for volunteers to devour after a days work. Rock folk duo Left On Red provided music entertainment for the crowd as they ate and shared conversation. Organizers then amused the crowd by showing off the most interesting finds of the day such as a doll, stop signs, shopping carts, a part of a shotgun, and even a ceiling fan still pretty much intact and looking like new. Majority of the interesting trash was dug out of the Scajaquada Creek, which from what I hear accumulates the most garbage out of all the locations. Tokens of appreciation are given out also to some children volunteers encouraging them for a job well done. Prizes including tee shirts, hats, and framed historic Buffalo prints.
Their slogan "Love Your Water" (which seemed an appropriate title for this entry) sums it up and is printed on the free tee shirts and cups you receive for extending a hand. They're raising awareness to the community to take some pride in their parks and waterways. Making it so it eventually doesn't become an eyesore. The city can only employ so many people for the parks and I'm sure could use the extra hands in keeping it preserved. Trash will never go away, but there is an appropriate place for it. We should all make the effort to be conscious of keeping the city we live in a clean, comfortable place.
The biannual shoreline sweeps are only part of what the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper organization does. They also participate in other local events which you can learn about at their website www.bnriverkeeper.org. I would encourage to check it out, you can even view a tally of items and the number of pounds of trash dug out of the water in Western New York and combined with the whole New York State.
