River Cleanups

RIVER CLEANUPS

Since 1998, Living Lands & Waters has worked on 24 rivers in 21 states and has hosted 1,145 community-based cleanups!

LL&W hosts dozens of community river cleanups each year to help watershed conservation efforts with the assistance of thousands of volunteers of all ages who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get dirty – individuals, schools, community organizations, businesses and more! To find a cleanup near you, continue below.

Or, if you would like to be placed on our "River Cleanup Notification List" please fill out and submit our questionnaire found below. Folks on the notification list will receive an email or phone call from us if we're ever working in their area!

Mississippi River Cleanups

Mississippi River Cleanups

We officially kicked off our 2020 river cleanup season in Memphis, TN throughout the month of March! We worked alongside just over 100 college students from all over the country during our Alternative Spring Break program to clean up McKellar Lake - a tributary of the Mississippi River.

Unfortunately, our 3-week long program was cut short due to COVID this year - but we'll be back in Memphis to pick up where we left off in March 2021. Registration is open for college students!

If you'd like to be notified when we head to your neck of the woods, please fill out our River Cleanup Notification Sign-Up!
Illinois River Cleanups

Illinois River Cleanups

For the first time in several years, we will be bringing our full river cleanup operation to the Illinois River! The flood in 2019 was one for the books, placing many river towns along the upper Mississippi & Illinois Rivers above flood stage for more than 100 days. We were able to do a series of post-flood cleanups with our boats and crew last year - and removed an estimated 26,574 pounds of garbage from the Illinois River.

We'll be heading back in May 2020, but this time with our barges and excavator, to finish what we started!
Ohio River Cleanups
Ohio River Cleanups
From August to November of 2019 LL&W hit the ground running - hosting dozens of cleanups on the Ohio River from Rabbit Hash to Maysville, KY

During our 2019 Ohio River Tour we:
- Held 80 cleanups
- With 752 volunteers
- And removed over 223,173 pounds of garbage
- In 9 different towns!
During our Ohio River Tour, we will typically host two cleanups per day, Thursday – Saturday. One from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm and one from 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm. Lunch is provided on our barge for those who join us for our morning cleanup. Volunteers can sign up for a half-day, or both sessions!

We welcome individuals, business groups, clubs, scouts, or camps, and can accommodate groups up to 60 volunteers! We suggest volunteers should be 15+ to volunteer alone, and 8+ with parent/guardian supervision, but can make circumstantial exceptions.

We provide all the necessary cleanup materials including trash bags, gloves, life jackets, water, sunscreen, bug spray, etc.

Although we will not be hosting any public cleanups on the Ohio River in 2020 - please fill out the River Cleanup Notification Sign-Up form so we can let you know when we return to your neck of the woods!
Tennessee River Cleanups

Tennessee River Cleanups

We'll be teaming up with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in October and November of 2020 for cleanups in a few locations on the Tennessee River!

CLICK HERE to head over to the Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful website to learn more & sign up!
A River Near You

A River Near You

We have brought our river cleanups efforts to 24 rivers in 21 states. Have a trashed shoreline in mind, or a group of people itching to join our mission?

Send us a message!

Or, if you would like to be placed on our "river cleanup notification list" please fill out and submit THIS FORM. Folks on the notification list will receive an email or phone call from us if we're ever working in your area!

River Cleanup Notification Sign-Up
FAQ's

FAQ's

"What happens to all the trash you pick up?"

- Everything that we pick up is counted up for our stats and then unloaded and sorted out on our barges. We have separate barges for plastic & e-waste, tires, and scrap metal! Our scrap metal gets dropped at a scrap yard, our e-waste is properly disposed of, our tires are recycled through Bridgestone's Tires4Ward program, and our plastic is sorted out and recycled at our Recycle Like a Rockstar events!

"I want to join a cleanup, but you're not coming to my area this year! What can I do?"

- Although we'd love to be in hundreds of places at once, we are a small crew and, unfortunately, usually set our goals to a handful of different areas/ rivers each year. If we can't make it to you, we'd love to sponsor your cleanup! For those on the Mississippi River, we have our Great Mississippi River Cleanup program! We'll assist your cleanup by sending you gloves, bags, LL&W swag for your volunteers, and we'll offer you advice, so your event goes off without a hitch. For all other rivers, we have our Adopt-A-River-Mile program! If you claim a stretch of water and pledge to #keepitclean, we'll send you gloves, bags, a metal sign to mark your mile, and give you guidance for your mission. Click the links to learn more and sign-up!