Community Corner
Record-Number of Volunteers 'Sweep the Hooch'
The April 13 event netted 3.7 tons of trash.
A record-number 553 volunteers helped remove 3.7 tons of trash at the 3rd Annual Sweep the Hooch event, Saturday, April 13.
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK), Upper Chattahoochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited (UCCTU) and National Park Service coordinated the multi-site cleanup at 22 sites along the 48-mile stretch of the river through the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) - which goes through Roswell. Two additional sites at the Chattahoochee Bend State Park were also part of the cleanup.
The cleanup coincided with both Earth Day (April 22) and National Volunteer Month.
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"We’re incredibly proud of our volunteers, partners and sponsors who helped make this a record year for Sweep the Hooch. Because of sequestration and the removal of trash cans from all but a handful of the parks inside the CRNRA, Sweep the Hooch was more important than ever this year," said CRK Executive Director Sally Bethea.
Volunteers served in three different roles at the cleanup: paddlers picking up trash from the water, waders patrolling the river bank, and walkers canvassing the park grounds and tributary creeks and streams. Volunteers found everything from fire extinguishers to a completely full one-gallon gas tank. Of the 3.7 tons of trash removed, 0.6 ton was recycled.
