LEESBURG, Ga. (WALB) - Volunteers are gearing up for Saturday’s 17th annual Lee County Rivers Alive initiative. The initiative is a creek and river clean-up that helps protect major waterways here in South Georgia.

Lee County Rivers Alive volunteers collected approximately 240 pounds of trash along waterways, a major difference from what they tell me they’ve seen in years past.

“We used to bring out vending machines, parts of cars, refrigerators, sunken boats. So we don’t see that much anymore,” said David Dixon, a Lee County River’s Alive volunteer.

Instead, volunteers have mostly picked up plastic waste. Rivers Alive is a state-wide initiative under the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

The department’s most recent report in 2022 showed throughout Georgia, 50.17% of litter collected was plastic.

“That contributes to pollution with microplastics which is a big issue now with people who eat the fish and eat the little pieces of microplastics,” Dixon said.

The annual event will help remove the harmful waste from rivers in a fun way. Volunteers will be floating down rivers and creeks in canoes to take as much litter out of the water as possible. Clean-up efforts will happen in Lake Chehaw, Kinchafoonee, and Muckalee Creek.

“Not only are they official water trails but that business for Lee County so we want to keep it clean and neat,” Dixon said.

You still have an opportunity to become a volunteer. At 9 a.m. Saturday organizers will have a table set up here at Suttons Landing for you to sign up. For more information, click here.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

Copyright 2024 WALB. All rights reserved.