On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 1, 22 volunteers gathered on the banks of the beautiful Green River, and 13 local residents organized on the shores of Lake Adger, as part of Polk County’s contributions to N.C. Big Sweep, a statewide effort to remove litter and debris from our waterways and beaches.

The Green River crew consisted of citizens Barney Eiserloh, and Mary and Jerry Hardvall; Polk County High School ‘Green Team’ members Alessandra Akers, Savannah Deaver, Isys Hennigar, Isla Neal, Caleb Parsons, Maggie Phipps, Nick Rowland, Ashlin Steinman, Ben Stockdale, Will Trakas and Mason Umlauf; representatives of the Pisgah Chapter of Trout Unlimited included Ken Brady, Fran Fruci, Gene McGuire and Linda and Mark Byington. Also, Carolyn Ashburn, Joe Cooper and Rolfe Wardner represented the Polk County Appearance Commission. The dedicated group removed more than 380 pounds of trash and 400 pounds of recyclables, along nearly 6.5 miles of the Green River Cove.

The Lake Adger volunteers, organized by Green River Watershed Alliance Director Jamie Davidson, spent the morning on kayaks, pontoons and jon boats, and focused on three of the dirtiest coves along Mountain Park covering about a half mile of shoreline. The Lake Adger team consisted of Arden Achenberg, Jerry and Susan Atwood, Jamie and Mike Davidson, Ruby Drew, Chris and Linda Greensfelder, Kim and Rick Morgan, Don Paddock, Ron Peters and Barbara Raymond. The team pulled more than 700 pounds of trash and 60 pounds of recyclables from the lake and shore, including more than 50 disposable lighters, and more than 150 flip flops.

Clean water starts at the top, and these efforts go a long way to improving the quality of downstream rivers which supply drinking water to many North and South Carolina communities. As more and more tourist are discovering the beauty of our area, it is economically important that they are not turned away by trash lined roads and waterways.

N.C. Big Sweep is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works year-round to educate citizens for litter-free watersheds.  Last year, a record number of volunteers (18,443) worked more than 84,000 hours to retrieve almost 521,000 pounds of debris statewide.

– article submitted by Mark Byington