Volunteers pose with the trash collected at one site on Tellico Lake in Vonore, TN.

A collective 47 volunteers removed 16,648 lbs. of trash from four different rivers in a month-long series in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s 2nd annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series. The most recent series total has the river cleanup nonprofit right on track with its record-breaking year in 2021, in which more than 700 volunteers removed over 152,000 lbs. of trash.

Cleaning up a cove on Tellico Lake in Vonore, TN.

“As awe-inspiring as the natural scenery is around the Cherokee National Forest’s rivers, we were even more inspired by the enthusiasm of our volunteers that took each cleanup to the highest level possible,” said Kathleen Gibi, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) Executive Director.

KTNRB hosted five river cleanups through February and March, collaborating with local Keep America Beautiful affiliates and local governments:

CHEROKEE NATIONAL FOREST RIVER CLEANUP SERIES RESULTS

Feb. 12 Tellico Lake of the Little Tennessee River Vonore, TN 4,742 lbs. 12 volunteers

Feb. 13 Parksville Lake of the Ocoee River Benton, TN 2,288 lbs. 12 volunteers

Feb. 26 Watauga Lake of the Watauga River Elizabethton, TN 4,616 lbs. 8 volunteers

Feb. 27 South Holston Lake on the Holston River Abingdon, VA 1,693 lbs. 3 volunteers

Mar. 5 Tellico Lake of the Little Tennessee River Vonore, TN 3,309 lbs. 12 volunteers

16,648 lbs. 47 volunteers

Volunteers with the trash they collected on Parksville Lake in Ocoee, TN.

The 47 volunteers had other harrowing statistics from their efforts, including a total of 381 bags of trash and 89 tires removed.

“The impressive numbers we reached over the last four weeks wouldn’t have been possible without our hard-working volunteers and collaborative partners,” said Gibi. “It takes a village to put the kind of trash into the river that our volunteers pulled out, and this series showed the fact that we’ve got a strong village willing to protect our waterways at the same time.”

Volunteer participants ranged from individuals, to parents and their kids, to former marines, to the Theta Tau engineering fraternity from the University of Tennessee, to marina owners, to a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer, to a repeat volunteer who has now been to KTNRB’s farthest reaching cleanups on either end of the Tennessee River watershed.

Volunteers with the trash they collected on South Holston Lake in Abingdon, VA.

The final cleanup on Tellico Lake was comprised solely of members of the Schaad Family and Company. In addition to participating in the cleanup, the Schaad Family made a generous donation of $15,000 to KTNRB.

Partners like Keep Cleveland & Bradley County Beautiful, Keep Carter County Beautiful, Keep Jonesborough Beautiful, and Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful all played a huge role in organizational details, recruiting, and participation. Monroe County Government, Waste Connections of Tennessee – Cleveland Hauling, Carter County Solid Waste, and GFL Environmental all donated dumpster services for the trash to be hauled away from each cleanup.

The series was largely made possible by funding received from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter campaign.

KTNRB plans to host its 3rd annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series in 2023. For more information about KTNRB’s schedule, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.