The Tennessee River Rescue is back and bigger than ever! For more than 35 years, the residents of the Tennessee River Watershed have gathered along the Tennessee River and its tributary stream corridors to clear litter from our precious waterways. This year’s event is scheduled for October 5th at various locations throughout the region.
In 2023, over 1,000 volunteers removed ~12 tons of trash, 130 tires, and ~800 lbs. of bulk items (furniture, appliances, etc.). Furthermore, through outreach and media coverage, an estimated 40,000 individuals became aware of the litter issues in our watershed, a positive step toward water conservation.
Despite these efforts, the persistent rise of plastic-based litter items like grocery bags, bottles, and styrofoam continues to be a concern. To address this, WaterWays, the organizing body, is launching a comprehensive Litter Reduction Initiative called “Trash Free Tomorrow,” which includes various litter clean-up events (including the River Rescue) and the Adopt-A-WaterWay program. In addition to these volunteer efforts, WaterWays is coordinating the installation of litter booms (floating trash collecting structures) on small tributaries to prevent floating litter from entering the Tennessee River system. Capturing this litter before it sinks and eventually degrades is vital in reducing microplastics that contaminate our waterways worldwide. Events like the Tennessee River Rescue help in the collection of data that informs our master litter reduction plan.
“The growth of this event is truly inspiring. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in zone leadership and volunteer engagement. Collaborating with partners like the Tennessee RiverLine has allowed us to expand our reach to communities across the watershed basin, including those in Northern Alabama and into Rhea and Meigs County, TN. Our ultimate goal is to raise awareness about the seriousness of litter pollution and to get folks to take action and reduce litter at its source.The more residents of the watershed that join in the bigger our impact will be and the closer will be to a Trash Free Tomorrow!”
-Tennessee River Rescue Coordinator and Assistant Director of WaterWays Brooke Fleeman
We would like to thank TVA for being this year’s title sponsor as well as Tennessee American Water and Commercial Metals for their continued support and sponsorship.
To get involved, please check out the official Tennessee River Rescue website! https://tennesseeriverrescue.org
