By Doug Alderson, Outreach & Advocacy Director
Seven incredible volunteers joined Georgia and me in cleaning River Landing Park in Chattahoochee on June 26. More than a dozen large garbage bags were filled with trash along with three bags of recyclables. During high water periods, much of this trash would have been washed into the river. The largest item collected was a discarded tire.
The high number of white and blue plastic bait cups and lids highlights a growing problem. Walk or boat along most any waterway that is frequented by bank fishermen and you will likely see this litter. Like many plastics, it is not recyclable and doesn’t completely break down. And they hold standing water that breeds mosquitoes. But there are compostable bait containers made from corn starch and other plant materials available on the market, so part of this is an educational challenge at the retail level. 
A thousand thanks for those who helped with the clean-up (David Morse, Fountain Huchison, Cameron Lewis Barton, Collins Barton, Macie Codina, Eli Mears and Daniel Mears)! Our growing volunteer corps will be doing periodic cleanups around the basin, so stay tuned. Also, two Maclay students, Eli Mears and Collins Barton, took water samples at the park as part of Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s water quality monitoring program. If you are interested in joining Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s Volunteer Corps, send an email to me at [email protected].
