Romance on the River: Bringing Couples Together through Cleanups

Christopher Tate joined our first Tellico Lake cleanup in February 2021. He has returned to our Tellico Lake cleanup every year and every year, has had updates on his young family.

Everyone knows that Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful works with volunteers to clean the rivers and raise awareness about litter prevention to protect our waterways. Even we have been pleasantly surprised to learn that our river cleanups have brought some couples together!

Christoper Tate joined our very first cleanup on Tellico Lake in February 2021. The cleanup has now become an annual tradition as part of our Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series.

The next year, he joined and in 2022, he brought his fiancé, Haley. They had recently been engaged. Haley told us that year that she and Chris were supposed to go on a date that weekend when Christopher first joined the cleanup in 2021.

Haley and Christopher Tate pose as they clean shorelines along Tellico Lake in 2023.

“He told me he wasn’t available earlier that day because he was volunteering at a cleanup and I thought ‘Okay, this is a good guy,’” she recalled.

In 2023, the Tates retuned as a married couple. In 2024, only Christopher attended because Haley was pregnant. In 2025, Christopher met us again on Tellico Lake has shared the news that their twin babies had recently been born.

This year, he joined our February 8, 2026 cleanup and was sharing photos of the twins playing together. Meanwhile, we were traveling further from the boat launch than ever before and finding much less bulky trash than the volunteer groups have in the past.

Systematically, we’ve taken volunteers to clean shorelines in dozens of coves and along approximately 15 river miles near the Cherokee National Forest portion on Tellico Lake. Each year, it’s been more difficult to find the kind of bulk items and prevalent litter that can help us reach the 4,000 - 5,000 lb. cleanups that our volunteers were having on Tellico Lake in the early years.

In total since Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful began cleanups on Tellico Lake in 2021, volunteers have helped us to remove 25,005 lbs. to date!

A new father of twin babies at the time, Christopher carries a tire to the Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful boats on Tellico Lake in 2025.

You see, as Christopher was building his family over the years, he’s also been helping to build a legacy of cleaner waters for them to enjoy as they kayak together (the Tates are big paddlers). Not only that, but a cleaner Tennessee River watershed means their drinking water is healthier and the local economy thrives as our scenic rivers draw tourism to the area and therefore generate more jobs.

And Christopher doesn’t just leave it to our Tellico Lake cleanup. He says he cleans at two to three river cleanups a year, often joining the annual Ijams River Rescue. Though it’s a big difference he’s making, Christopher views his volunteer efforts on the Tennessee River watershed from a humbler perspective.

“I just care about conservation and enjoy it,” he said when asked why he joins river cleanups so consistently.

This year, Christopher is taking it to the next level as he has adopted his own area to clean: miles 1 & 2 of Abrams Creek where he paddles.

The Tate family offer a great example of taking ownership of their part of the Tennessee River watershed. We have other love stories through our cleanups, too. There are married couples of all generations who regularly join our cleanups as a way to spend time together and give back at the same time.

Kevin Wolcott proposes to his girlfriend with their Adopt a River Mile sign on the Little Tennessee River.

In 2021, Kevin Wolcott used our Adopt a River Mile program to propose to his girlfriend on the Little Tennessee River. They had a tradition of cleaning along a trail on Little Tennessee River Mile 13 and Kevin had a river mile adoption sign installed that said it was adopted by “The Walcott's.” When they went on their next hike, she was reading the sign and turned around to find Kevin down on one knee. She said yes, and the rest is history in another love story in the Tennessee River watershed!

So, what are the takeaways here?

1. Giving back to the community proves you’re a good catch!

2. River cleanups are a great way to spend time together and grow as a family.

3. When you join a cleanup, you’ll be joining alongside a lot of amazing and interesting people who truly care!

Check out our river cleanup schedule HERE to join today, or visit our Programs page HERE to see how you can take part on your own! Whether you’re looking to find your love story or give a little love to the river, we’d love to have you join our cause!

After 72 Added River Mile Adoptions in the Tennessee River Watershed in 2025, Publix Continues Adopt a River Mile Program Sponsorship in 2026

In their second cleanup on their river mile, the self-proclaimed 'Whispering River Trash Panda Task Force' removed 958 lbs. of trash on Mile #25 of the Little River in November 2025.

After 72 adoptions in 2025, there are now 309 river miles adopted within the Tennessee River watershed in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s Adopt a River Mile Program presented by Publix. (To give perspective, the main stem of the Tennessee River is 652 miles in length.)

Participants in Adopt a River Mile program (AARM) commit to hosting two cleanups a year within their river mile. That cleanup can be as little as one person cleaning, up to a fully organized cleanup put on by the adoptee. The program was launched by Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in 2018 and participants have been reporting their poundage collected since 2021.

In 2025, river mile adoptees reported removing 61,535 lbs. of trash. To date, the program has seen a total of 337,241 lbs. of trash collected by adoptees since 2021. (That isn’t even counting the 1,034,466 lbs. of trash removed at Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful® organized volunteer cleanups with their two 26-foot boats.)

Now in 2026, Publix Super Markets is continuing its title sponsorship of the Adopt a River Mile program (AARM) offered within the seven-state Tennessee River watershed by Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB).

NEW ‘AARM WRESTLING’ CHALLENGE

This year, the program is launching a friendly ‘AARM Wrestling’ Challenge to promote further river mile adoptions, with the goal to see full adoptions of each of the nine lakes in the Tennessee River’s main stem.

Throughout the year, the nine lakes of the Tennessee River’s main stem will be ranked as the percentage of adopted miles vs. miles remaining to be adopted are calculated each month. Here are the current rankings as the program stands as of January 22, 2026:

TENNESSEE RIVER Main Stem LAKE MILES ADOPTED PERCENTAGES

1. Fort Loudoun Lake: 31/59 - 52.54%
2. Pickwick Lake: 27/54 - 50.00%
3. Kentucky Lake: 68/174 - 39.08%
4. Chickamauga Lake: 18/58 - 31.03%
5. Nickajack Lake: 13/47 - 27.66%
6. Watts Bar Lake: 8/73 - 10.96%
7. Wheeler Lake: 8/74 - 10.81%
8. Guntersville Lake: 6/77 - 7.79%
9. Wilson Lake: 0/16 - 0.00%

Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director, said that the Publix sponsorship truly helped catalyze the nonprofit’s Adopt a River Mile program, one of the most mission-critical programs it offers.

“With a mission ‘to educate and inspire others to take action for the Tennessee River,’ we consider our Adopt a River Mile program the endgame goal for our river cleanup efforts,” said Gibi. “With the support from a well-respected brand like Publix, we’ve truly seen a new level of momentum build in the program.”

Every participant in KTnRB’s free Adopt a River Mile program receives a package that includes river cleanup supplies, volunteer t-shirts, and stainless-steel water bottles (an example of a solution to the cups, bottles and cans found on river shorelines). They also receive a sign with the individual/group name declaring the river mile under their care. New adoptees in 2025 also received Publix swag in their AARM package.

“Publix is proud to continue our title sponsorship of the Adopt a River Mile program for a second year,” said Publix Director of Environmental and Sustainability Programs Paul Osley. “Supporting this program helps Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful continue the positive momentum from 2025. Being good stewards of the environment is part of our mission at Publix, so we are pleased to be part of a program that’s benefitting several of the states we operate in.”

The original scope of the program has historically been supported through a work plan that KTnRB has with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Tennessee Department of Transportation, two agencies that have also long-supported KTnRB’s river cleanup efforts. The adoption signs are provided by KTnRB partner and national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters.

To adopt a river mile within the Tennessee River watershed, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/adopt.

Milestone Reached of 1 Million Pounds of Trash Removed in October’s ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month®’

Volunteers celebrate two full trash boats at the end of the cleanup on Nickajack Lake o the Tennessee River that pushed KTnRB over its milestone of 1 million lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed!

More than 5,000 volunteers have helped the river cleanup nonprofit, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful®, to reach a milestone of 1 million lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed since the organization put its first boat in the water in 2019. 

A volunteer rides along in the trash boat on the stunning Chatuge Lake. KTnRB cleaned the shorelines of both Georgia and North Carolina at this cleanup!

The million-pound milestone was officially reached at an October 19th cleanup on Nickajack Lake of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn. during the 8th annual ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month (KTnRWB Month) presented by TVA.’

The cleanup series portion of the month’s campaign resulted in 30,627 lbs. of trash removed by 75 volunteers from cleanups held in all seven states of the Tennessee River watershed.

By the end of November, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB) has worked with 5,293 volunteers to remove 1,017,672 lbs. of trash to date.

Volunteers work to load a 2,000-lb. spreader tire onto the KTnRB boat at a cleanup on Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River in Golden Pond, Ky.. How did they get it on, you might ask? Physics!

“Though our mission is to educate and inspire others to take action, it’s our volunteers who actually inspire us everyday, so we see this milestone more as something that was achieved by 5,000 individuals working together for their collective river community,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director. “This is a big win for all of the communities within the watershed and it just goes to show what a difference community volunteers and partners can make!”

TVA team members enjoy the Fall colors while riding in the KTnRB trash boat to the next cleanup site on South Holston Lake in Abingdon, Va.

OCTOBER RIVER CLEANUPS
Traditionally, the celebration month includes a river cleanup series tour with KTnRB’s two 26-foot work boats that take volunteers to clean the shorelines. At two events, the national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters amplified the cleanup efforts by bringing two of their 30-foot boats.

This year, the October awareness campaign included a total of eight scheduled river cleanups that touched the shorelines of all seven states in the Tennessee River watershed.

Oct.1       Knoxville/Louisville, TN                      Fort Loudoun Lake        15,496 lbs.          28 volunteers

Oct. 7      Harrison, TN                                      Chickamauga Lake        1,921 lbs.            11 volunteers

Oct. 11    Iuka, MS/Counce, TN/Waterloo, AL     Pickwick Lake               2,091 lbs.            10 volunteers

Oct. 12    Golden Pond, KY                               Kentucky Lake               4,112 lbs.           10 volunteers

Oct. 18    Chattanooga, TN                                Nickajack Lake              4,330 lbs.           12 volunteers

Oct. 19    Guntersville, AL                                  Guntersville Lake           Cancelled due to weather

Oct. 24    Hayesville, NC/Young Harris, GA      Chatuge Lake               1,158 lbs.                1 volunteer
Oct. 28    Abingdon, VA                                     South Holston Lake       1,159 lbs.              3 volunteers

TOTAL                                                                                                 30,627 lbs.      75 volunteers

Volunteers on Pickwick Lake of the Tennessee River clean load an entire dock part-by-part into the KTnRB trash boat. The dock washed ashore on Mississippi’s shorelines, which faces Alabama’s shorelines across the river.

PROCLAMATIONS

Another tradition for KTnRWB Month is to obtain proclamations from elected officials declaring the month for the river. Gibi said that October presents the perfect opportunity to push KTnRB’s ultimate goal of empowering the community to make a difference, pointing to their slogan: ‘Your river. Your impact.’

“This touches on the fact that, whether aware of it or not, whether positively or negatively, no matter the level of effort, you’re impacting your watershed every single day,” Gibi said at a waterfront press conference in Knoxville, Tenn. on Oct. 1, 2025 that kicked off KTnRWB Month.

“We are grateful to all of the elected officials who declared October to be Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month, demonstrating leadership that looks out for their part of the river and beyond.”

This year, 11 elected officials from four states, four counties, and three cities made the proclamation, including:

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon presents her proclamation to Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director, at a press conference kicking off KTnRWB Month on Oct. 1, 2025.

Gov. Bill Lee - State of Tennessee

Gov. Kay Ivey – State of Alabama

Gov. Tate Reeves – State of Mississippi

Gov. Andy Beshear – State of Kentucky

Mayor Indya Kincannon – City of Knoxville, TN

Mayor Glen Jacobs – Knox County, TN

Mayor Tim Kelly – City of Chattanooga, TN

Mayor Weston Wamp – Hamilton County, TN

Mayor David Byrd – Grainger County, TN

Mayor Robby Hatcher – Polk County, TN

Mayor Jason Jolly – City of Rockwood, TN

The Living Lands & Waters barge docked in Downtown Knoxville, Tenn. during the 2015 Tennessee River Tour that led to Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful forming and becoming the 1st Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river.

CONTINUING TO MAKE HISTORY
Gibi said the timing of the million-pound milestone was apropos since 2025 also marked the ten-year anniversary of the 2015 Tennessee River Tour, which ultimately led to the creation of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, the 1st Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river.

The Tennessee River Tour was implemented by the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, who traveled with their barge, hosting river cleanups in the four states touched by the main stem of the Tennessee River from Knoxville, Tenn. to Paducah, Ky. The idea for the Tennessee River Tour was sparked and championed at the City of Knoxville who invited Living Lands & Waters to come with their barge. It was Ijams Nature Center who kicked off the cleanup tour with their annual powerhouse, multi-county cleanup known as the Ijams River Rescue, an event that many river officials refer to as the first organized river cleanup effort known on the Tennessee River.

Ultimately, the campaign was funded by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Keep Tennessee Beautiful (through Tennessee Dept. of Transportation funds). At the end of the tour, Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands & Waters and 2013 CNN Hero of the Year, sat down with TVA and Keep Tennessee Beautiful leaders, declaring that this was the most beautiful river he had ever been on and the project could not stop with a one-time campaign. From that conversation, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful was formed as the 1st Keep America Beautiful Affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river.

One of the many goats that roam freely on Goat island on Pickwick Lake in Iuka, Miss. decided to try to board one of KTnRB’s boats, trying to find a treat in the trash during KTnRWB Month, October 2025.

Volunteers celebrate their trash boat that was completely filled and topped with a massive channel marker at a cleanup on Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River.

HISTORY OF CELEBRATING KTNRWB MONTH
Gibi said that it was the TVA, that originally challenged KTnRB to celebrate an awareness month for the Tennessee River. The awareness month was launched in the state of Tennessee in 2018, was announced by then Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and has now expanded into a seven-state awareness campaign.

Dozens of proclamations from governors and mayors within the Tennessee River watershed have been proclaimed over the years.

As KTnRWB Month is celebrated in different states, local Keep America Beautiful affiliates as well as the state affiliates of Keep Tennessee Beautiful, Keep Alabama Beautiful, and Keep Mississippi Beautiful also participate and support the campaign.

WHAT’S NEXT
KTnRB is currently pursuing its ‘2025 Goal to Remove 200,000 lbs. of Trash presented by Clayton Home Building Group. With the month of December remaining in the year, the organization has 16,206 lbs. of trash left to collect at river cleanups. The next public cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, on Watts Bar Lake.  

To register for upcoming cleanups or to learn more about Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

Crew members from KTnRB and Living Lands & Waters pose with an abandoned boat they were able to pull out of the river at Nickajack Lake using a new winch recently added to KTnRB’s trucks!

River Cleanup Nonprofit and Local, State, Federal Officials Celebrate Milestone of 1 Million Lbs. of Trash Removed

The press conference held on Wednesday took place on Volunteer Landing overlooking the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.

At a press conference held Wednesday at the riverfront park, Volunteer Landing, in Knoxville, Tenn., Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful® (KTnRB) announced alongside local, state, and federal officials that their volunteers will reach this month the milestone of 1 million lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed by more than 5,000 volunteers.

The announcement came on the celebration kickoff of the 8th annual ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month® presented by TVA’ that was declared in proclamations made by both Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Later this month, proclamations will be announced by a growing number of governors, mayors, and elected officials within the seven-state Tennessee River watershed.

This year also marks the ten-year anniversary of the 2015 Tennessee River Tour, which led to the creation of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. The Tennessee River Tour was put on by the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, who traveled with their barge, hosting river cleanups in the four states touched by the main stem of the Tennessee River from Knoxville, Tenn. to Paducah, Ky. The idea for the Tennessee River Tour was sparked and championed at the City of Knoxville who invited Living Lands & Waters to come with their barge. It was Ijams Nature Center who kicked off the cleanup tour with their annual powerhouse, multi-county cleanup known as the Ijams River Rescue, an event that many river officials refer to as the first organized river cleanup effort known on the Tennessee River.

“It is an honor to commemorate with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, TVA, TDOT and their other partners this milestone that was ten years in the making and started here in Knoxville, right at the headwaters of the river,” said Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon.

Knoxville Mayor Indy Kincannon reads her proclamation declaring October 2025 ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’

Ultimately, the campaign was funded by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Keep Tennessee Beautiful (through TDOT funds). At the end of the tour, Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands & Waters and 2013 CNN Hero of the Year, sat down with TVA and Keep Tennessee Beautiful leaders, declaring that this was the most beautiful river he had ever been on and the project could not stop with a one-time campaign. From that conversation, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful was formed as the 1st Keep America Beautiful Affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river.

“We’re delighted to both celebrate what was started back then and what is to come for the Tennessee River, which impacts the communities it touches, breathes life into our ecosystems, defines our culture, and generates our economy, among too many other things to list,” said Gibi. “This work we get to do to protect this great river alongside thousands of volunteers and hundreds of partners is a true honor.”

A CALL TO ACTION THIS KTnRWB MONTH:

RIVER CLEANUPS

Traditionally, the celebration month includes a river cleanup series tour with KTnRB’s two 26-foot work boats that take volunteers to clean the shorelines. At two cleanups, Living Lands & Waters will amplify the cleanup efforts by bringing three of their 30-foot boats.

This year, the cleanup series will be held in all seven states of the Tennessee River watershed:

October 1        Fort Loudoun Lake in Knoxville, Concord, and Louisville, TN
October 7        Chickamauga Lake cleanup with TDOT Region 2 employees
October 11      Pickwick Lake in Iuka, MS/Counce, TN
October 12      Kentucky Lake in Golden Pond, KY/Dover, TN
October 18      Nickajack Lake in Jasper, TN with Living Lands & Waters
October 19      Guntersville Lake in Guntersville, AL with Living Lands & Waters
October 24      Chatuge Lake in Hayesville, NC/Young Harris, GA
October 28      South Holston Lake in Abingdon, VA

Volunteers are still needed, so please consider registering for a cleanup at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.

Volunteers hit the first shoreline of the day at the Fort Loudoun Lake cleanup that kicked off “Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’ following the press conference.

INDIVIDUAL CLEANUP EFFORTS
KTnRB has also challenged its network of 253 river mile adoptees to host their own river cleanups during the month. Keep Tennessee Beautiful has sponsored KTnRB this month to promote their Adopt a Storm Drain program to raise awareness around how most litter reaches our waterways in the first place.

CHANGING THE CULTURE

KTnRB Board President Dr. John Simmons and Programs Coordinator Maddy Wolfenbarger clean a shoreline at the Oct. 1 Fort Loudoun Lake cleanup to kick off ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’

Those who are unable to participate in a cleanup can still help to protect the Tennessee River by taking a pledge in KTnRB’s #Pledge4Rivers campaign.

HISTORY OF CELEBRATING KTnRWB MONTH

Gibi said that it was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that originally challenged KTnRB to celebrate an awareness month for the Tennessee River. The awareness month was launched in the state of Tennessee in 2018, was announced by then Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and has now expanded into a seven-state awareness campaign.

Dozens of proclamations from governors and mayors within the Tennessee River watershed have been proclaimed over the years.

As KTnRWB Month is celebrated in different states, local Keep America Beautiful as well as the state affiliates of Keep Tennessee Beautiful, Keep Alabama Beautiful, and Keep Mississippi Beautiful.

A cleanup was held immediately following Wednesday’s press conference, where KTnRB collaborated with Knoxville partners including Ijams Nature Center, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, Keep Blount Beautiful, and the Knoxville Rotary Club at five simultaneous cleanup sites on Fort Loudoun Lake of the Tennessee River in Knoxville.

For more information on Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by Oris, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/ktnrwb-month.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful Awarded with Two State Awards from TDOT at Keep Tennessee Beautiful Biennial State Conference

On Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2025, the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (TDOT) and Keep Tennessee Beautiful presented Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful™ (KTnRB) with two state-level awards.

The awards presented to Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful were:

1. Public Education - Tennessee River Mussel Movement Initiative
   A five-part awareness initiative sponsored by Nobody Trashes Tennessee and partnering with the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and many other partners to raise awareness for freshwater mussels that includes:
   1. Adopt a Mussel program
   2. Tennessee River Watershed Mussel Fest put on in 2025 at Seven Islands State Birding Park
   3. Education Sessions in Schools
   4. Mussel Shell Inventory collected at KTnRB river cleanups throughout the 7-state watershed
   5. ‘Value of a Mussel’ study to highlight significance of freshwater mussels
   

2. Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup - Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series
   A river cleanup series held in March and April that has turned into a disaster response cleanup effort, hosting a cleanup in each of the four states touched by the main stem of the Tennessee River. This year, the cleanups address response to Hurricane Helene on Norris and Douglas lakes in East Tennessee, tornadoes on Pickwick Lake in West Tennessee/North Mississippi/North Alabama, and flooding on Kentucky Lake in West Tennessee. This year’s cleanup series resulted in nearly 200 volunteers removing 46,605 lbs. of trash in total.
   

Official TDOT Awards Press Release from Keep Tennessee Beautiful:

MEMPHIS,Tenn. (Sept. 18, 2025) – The Tennessee Department of Transportation recently presented 18 Keep Tennessee Beautiful Awards of Excellence Grants totaling $54,000. The awards ceremony was held during the 2025 Biennial Conference, when TDOT and KTnB honored 13 environmental leaders from across the state, with some organizations receiving multiple awards.  

The 2025 award-winners include Keep Sevier Beautiful; Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful; Memphis City Beautiful; Collierville Rotary Club; Keep Chester County Beautiful; Greene County Partnership; Jennifer Wilder, Greene County Partnership; Keep Knoxville Beautiful; Keeping The Valley Beautiful; Keep Wayne County Beautiful; Lisa Bryant, Keep Sevier Beautiful; Sheriff Michael Hodges, Sevier County; Jessica Hernandez, Keep Tipton County Beautiful. The six categories designated for grants are Public Education, Public Participation, Leadership, TDOT County Litter Grant Programs, Keep America Beautiful TN Affiliate Award, and Keep Tennessee Beautiful State Level Affiliate Award.

The Biennial Conference was held at Murfreesboro’s Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center. Executive Director Missy Marshall hosted the two-day event, with the theme “The Heart of a Great Community: Connecting, Cultivating and Celebrating Impact.” Acclaimed speaker and author Derek Young brought the keynote address at the awards luncheon.

Steve Allen, director of Local Programs and Community Investments Division, TDOT, represented TDOT Commissioner Will Reid in presenting the awards. Recipients included affiliates and non-affiliates from the three grand divisions of the state whose work helps improve the lives of all Tennesseans. 

“This gathering of industry leaders, service providers and stakeholders is always invigorating and inspiring,” Marshall said. “I am grateful to TDOT for their generous support of our Awards of Excellence Grant program. The grant recipients are some of the most dedicated people I know, passionate about truly making a difference in their communities. I’m also thankful for the commitment of our KTnB team to educate our citizens about clean, green, healthy and safe living.” 

Sponsors for KTnB’s 2025 Biennial Conference included Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Beverage Association/PepsiCo, Food City, and Tennessee Fuel & Convenience Store Association. The event spotlighted the accomplishments of the past two years, celebrating the success of TDOT’s “Nobody Trashes Tennessee” initiative and KTnB’s national award-winning “Trashercise” campaign, both aggressive statewide programs.

Visit  Keep Tennessee Beautiful for the full list of award recipients

Rare Chance to Rappel 200-Feet from Iconic Gatlinburg Hotel while Raising Funds to Help Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful

Thrill-seekers will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rappel 200 feet down one of Gatlinburg’s most iconic hotels while also raising funds for the river cleanup nonprofit, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful™, at the ‘Rappelling for the Rivers’ event held on Saturday, Aug. 2, in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

The fundraiser has been timed when Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB) is nearing the milestone of 1,000,000 lbs. of trash removed from the seven-state Tennessee River watershed since the nonprofit put its first boat in the water in 2019. The ask of participants is to help KTnRB get ‘Over the Edge’ to reach the milestone with a total fundraiser goal of $100,000.

Rappelling for the Rivers is KTnRB's first-ever major fundraiser and will raise funds to help KTnRB surpass the milestone of 1 million pounds of trash removed since putting their first boat in the water in 2019.

A rappeller at a previous Over the Edge event prepares to descend down a building (photo provided by Over the Edge).

The river cleanup nonprofit has teamed up with Over the Edge, the world’s largest urban rappelling company, to offer an exclusive experience rappelling from the rooftop of The Park Vista, a Doubletree by Hilton Hotel. To date, Over the Edge has helped nonprofits host over 1,500 fundraiser rappelling events all over the world, raising a total of $150 million for nonprofit organizations worldwide.

The tallest hotel in Gatlinburg, The Park Vista resides 1,000 feet above the tourist city with an up-close backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains. This setting is expected to make the rappelling experience all the more unforgettable for participants.

“When you’re the 1st Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the country to focus solely on a river, it goes hand-in-hand to have an equally innovative first major fundraiser,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director. “This is an incredible opportunity for residents of the Tennessee River watershed and visitors alike to take in stunning, unmatched views of the surrounding Smoky Mountains, earn some bragging rights through this one-of-a-kind adventure, and help to raise both funds and awareness for protecting our region’s most valuable natural resource.”

Gibi will be one of those rappelling on the day of the event and is personally raising funds to reach the minimum donation of $1,000 that earns participants one of the coveted 92 spots available to rappel at this unique venue.

The required donation can be made by a single donation or by pursuing multiple supportive pledges on the campaign’s fundraiser page. Prize packages will be awarded to individuals who excel in different aspects of the fundraising campaign.

Funds raised at the event will go toward programming for KTnRB, particularly focusing on river cleanup efforts. Each year, the organization hosts river cleanups at which the KTnRB crew takes volunteers in their two 26-foot work boats to clean the shorelines within all seven states of the Tennessee River watershed.

A look at two trash boats that were hauled in from a cleanup on the Tennessee River.

To date, KTnRB has rallied over 5,000 volunteers to remove 950,025 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed at 228 cleanups. In 2025 alone, the nonprofit has worked with 523 volunteers who have removed 116,147 lbs. of trash. Many of this year’s cleanups have targeted areas impacted by natural disasters, including multiple lakes and rivers impacted by Hurricane Helene, Pickwick Lake, which has been repeatedly pelted with tornadoes this year, and Kentucky Lake, which has experienced several floods in recent years.

Volunteers celebrate with KTnRB and Living Lands & Waters crews, standing next to three of five trash boats filled up on Douglas Lake following Hurricane Helene. Within two days of cleanups on Douglas Lake, KTnRB volunteers removed over 31,000 lbs. of trash.

If successful, Gibi said this fundraiser will empower KTnRB to focus and even increase their efforts to host cleanups in areas affected by natural disasters.

“We’re so grateful to The Park Vista for making this event possible, because as natural disasters seem to be increasing, our work is more and more crucial,” said Gibi. “It’s our hope that this is an event that helps people to make joy-filed memories and especially helps to raise awareness for the Tennessee River watershed.”

Whether it’s raising $1,000 to rappel at the event, donating money to the fundraiser campaign, sharing the story on social media, or simply coming to cheer the rappelers on, Gibi said it will be making a huge difference for the region.

To participate in Rappelling for the Rivers or to simply make a donation, click the above button or visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/rappelling-for-the-rivers.

Volunteers remove 7,381 lbs. of trash at 5th annual 'Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend Presented by iSustain'

On Saturday, 20 volunteers helped Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB) to remove 7,381 lbs. of trash (nearly four tons) from the Tennessee River during the 5 th annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain.

This is the most trash removed during a single iSustain sponsored Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful cleanup. Some of the trash items collected by the volunteers included:

• 111 bags of trash

• 21 tires

• 27.5 steel drums

• 396 square feet of Styrofoam

• 140 lbs. of scrap metal

• Half of a large pontoon deck

The 2025 cleanup was made possible thanks to a $7,500 sponsorship from iSustain Recycling, a national sustainability services company that processes over 334 million pounds of recyclable products each year.

In sponsoring Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful cleanups over the last five years, iSustain has helped 149 volunteers to remove 33,241 lbs. of trash from Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River.

“This annual cleanup sponsored by iSustain is a great example of the true impact that our volunteers and partners make possible when we’re able to pull together for our river,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director. “The impressive impact like the 16.5 tons of trash removed by volunteers at iSustain cleanups over the last five years will continue to contribute to the community for years to come, probably in more ways than we can measure.”

Volunteers, including iSustain team members, celebrate one of the many trash piles they collected on Chickamauga lake on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

Mark Huber, Vice President of Business Development for iSustain and KTnRB Board President, joined the cleanup with staff from the company as well as his family. He and his wife, Dawn Huber, who is owner of iSustain, have also adopted Tennessee River Mile 489 on Chickamauga Lake through KTnRB’s Adopt a River Mile program.

An iSustain team member rolls a tire to the trash pile at the Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain.

“It’s always awesome to get out here with our team, our families, and the community to do something that really matters,” said Huber. “This cleanup isn’t just about picking up trash—it’s about showing what’s possible when people care enough to roll up their sleeves and take action.  

At iSustain, we spend our days helping companies recycle better, but days like this remind us why it all matters. Cleaner rivers, healthier communities, and a chance to inspire the next generation to think differently about waste—that’s the kind of impact we’re proud to be part of.”

Volunteers enjoy a boat ride to the next island to be cleaned at the Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain held on June 7, 2025.

The event series was also held in partnership with the Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful, who assisted with local volunteer recruitment and participated in the cleanup.

The cleanup yielded enough volunteer-collected trash to fill up two dumpsters donated by Absolute Waste Management of Chattanooga, Tenn. 

For a list of upcoming cleanups with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.

The KTnRB crew celebrates two very full trash boats about to be unloaded into dumpsters donated by Absolute Waste.

Nearly 200 Volunteers Remove 46,605 Lbs. of Trash from Shorelines During the 7th Annual Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series

Clayton Home Building Group employees celebrate with the first trash pile of many at a cleanup on Douglas Lake (impacted in late 2024 by Hurricane Helene) in March. The cleanup, kickoff for the 7th annual Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series, resulted in 134 volunteers helping to remove 20,757 lbs. of trash removed in just a few hours.

Volunteers celebrate next to the trash boat filled with everything they collected from a cleanup on Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River, cleaning shorelines of the river located in Murray, Ky. and Dover, Tenn.

In what turned out to be a series of cleanups following recent natural disasters, 198 volunteers removed 46,605 lbs. (more than 23 tons) of trash during Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s 7th annual Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series. 

The series aims to host one cleanup in each of the four states touched by the main stem of the Tennessee River: Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky. The total weight pulled this year beat the previous series record by over 10,000 lbs.

“It’s great to see how far we’ve been able to come with this cleanup series to make the biggest impact possible from an incredible and growing network of volunteers and partners when the river’s surrounding communities have really needed it following recent storms,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB).

“The volunteers’ work isn’t just beautifying the area; it’s making sure that our source of drinking water is healthy; that an ecosystem crucial to our economy is protected; that property values stay up; that one of the region’s biggest tourism attractions remains appealing; and that local jobs are therefore secured,” Gibi added.

Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series Numbers
3.21.25 – Newport, TN | Douglas Lake                        20,757 lbs. removed by 134 volunteers
3.22.25 – Dandridge, TN | Douglas Lake                     11,485 lbs. removed by 19 volunteers
3.23.25 – Maynardville, TN | Norris Lake                      8,071 lbs. removed by 24 volunteers
4.27.25 – Iuka, MS/Waterloo, AL | Pickwick Lake        2,094 lbs. removed by 15 volunteers
5.10.25 – Murray, KY/Dover, TN | Kentucky Lake         4,198 lbs. removed by 6 volunteers
Total:  46,605 lbs. removed by 198 volunteers

Volunteers stand with three full trash boats at a second cleanup on Douglas Lake as part of the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series. Two more trash boats were filled by a second group at this cleanup, which targeted debris that came from fallout from Hurricane Helene in late 2024.

DOUGLAS LAKE
The first two cleanups were held on Douglas Lake, which was severely impacted by the outfall from Hurricane Helene, and it will come with an arsenal of over 134 employee volunteers from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as well as a local company. The weekend continued with a second consecutive Douglas Lake cleanup and was open to the public. Between the two cleanups, more than 32,000 lbs. of trash were removed including 744 bags of litter, 379 tires, a porta john, 2,287 lbs. of scrap metal, and much more. For these cleanups, the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, assisted by bringing their boats. TVA employees joined on both days and brought another boat on the larger cleanup to help with trash hauling. 

KTnRB crew member Jackson Dyke drives a trash boat with Dan Breidenstein, KTnRB board member from Living Lands & Waters.

NORRIS LAKE
The cleanup on Norris Lake was supporting an annual cleanup hosted by The Norris Lake Project. A couple dozen volunteers came out to help and managed to remove a whopping 8,071 lbs. of trash in a few hours. Their haul included 223 bags of litter, 26 tires, a fridge, 183 square feet of dock foam, and more.

PICKWICK LAKE
Pickwick Lake was rescheduled not once, but twice, due to tornadoes. On the third scheduled date, 15 volunteers came out and removed an impressive 86 bags of litter, 24-feet of barge line, 31 square feet of dock foam, three tires, an old helium tank, and much more. This cleanup was supported by J.P. Coleman State Park, and volunteer forces came from Northrop Gruman, the Clayton Home Building Group, Pickwick Parrot Heads, Tennessee State Parks, Women Who Love the Outdoors and Keep Tennessee Beautiful.

KENTUCKY LAKE
The final cleanup held in the series was held in collaboration with Keep Paris/Henry County Beautiful and Land Between the Lakes. In addition to the 32 bags of litter, 38 feet of barge line, three channel markers, a jet ski lift, and a fiberglass top half of a boat, the KTnRB crew was able to pull a 2,000-pound concrete and metal dock off of the shore it had been lodged on 30 feet inland and tow it back to the boat ramp.

Though not originally intended, this series has wound up being one that hosts cleanups following natural disasters every spring. When initiated in 2019, the cleanup series followed floods from the worst recorded rainfall in history at the time.

The cleanup on Douglas Lake on March 21, 2025, was part of the official Keep America Beautiful Greatest American Cleanup™ campaign, which aims to remove 25 billion pieces of litter nationwide by the country’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. KTnRB worked with TVA to collaborate on this initiative, making TVA the largest agency to make the Greatest American Cleanup declaration thus far.

Cleanups in the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series were bolstered with the help of the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters (LL&W), who will bring three of their 30-foot work boats to supplement KTnRB’s two 26-foot work boats. By joining, LL&W will increase the volunteer and trash hauling capacity for each cleanup, therefore increasing the river’s impact.

TVA and TDOT’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter prevention campaign fund the cleanup series, and

Keep Tennessee Beautiful provides cleanup supplies.

To learn more about Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful cleanup events and programs, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.

Volunteers celebrate with a trash boat filled with trash they collected from shorelines in Waterloo, Ala. and Iuka, Miss. on Pickwick Lake of the Tennessee River.

Oak Ridge Power Squadron Donates $78,364, One of Top Three Private Donations to Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, representatives from the Oak Ridge Power Squadron presented Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB) with a $78,364 check.

Volunteers work together to pull a water-saturated piece of dock foam from the shore.

The donation is one of the top three largest private donations that the nonprofit has received to date. In fact, the Oak Ridge Power Squadron has given KTnRB two of its largest private donations to date after donating $79,000 in 2024.

“We’re grateful to the Oak Ridge Power Squadron for their commitment to protecting Melton Hill Lake over the years and for the long-lasting impact that their donated dollars will make on the entire seven-state Tennessee River watershed,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for the river cleanup nonprofit that launched its first work boat in 2019.

Steve Lewis of the Melton Hill Lake Users Association shows how litter cleanup is done!

The check presentation ceremony was followed by a cleanup on Melton Hill Lake at which seven volunteers removed 2,058 lbs. of trash, including 29 bags of litter and 25 tires.

Gibi noted that the donation received last year from the Oak Ridge Power Squadron went a long way in their river cleanup efforts, contributing to both capital purchases and regular operating expenses for KTnRB efforts. Some examples of how last year’s donation was used include:

 Upgrades to both trucks, including navigational screens to enhance the safety of driving the trucks while towing boats

• A camper top for the organization’s second truck purchased in 2024

• Roof racks on both trucks to hold kayaks that are used to push to land the litter floating in waters too deep for volunteers cleaning the shorelines to reach

• Life vests for volunteers riding in the organization’s second, most recently purchased boat

• Unique insurance policies that cover the use of boats in the water, cleanups on land, transporting the boats to cleanups, and storing everything in between

• Welding upgrades made to both 26-work boats including protected lights (that are less likely to get busted up while trash is being loaded on) and custom tire changing kit boxes for the trailers

• Regular maintenance for the KTnRB fleet, such as boat welding repairs as well as servicing the trucks and boat trailers

Volunteers discovered a cove with 22 tires and formed a human chain to get them off of the boggy shoreline and into the trash boat.

The Oak Ridge Power Squadron (ORPS) incorporated in 1947 and was the first inland Power Squadron. The original charter was presented March 10, 1947 by the late Captain Hyman Rickover who later became known as the ‘Father of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Program’ and a four-star admiral. 

ORPS is a non-profit educational organization and part of a unit of District 17 of the U.S. Power Squadron now America's Boating Club. The squadron’s mission is to improve maritime safety and enjoyability through classes in seamanship, navigation and other related subjects. 

Volunteers ride to the next cove to clean.

Through the years the Squadron was able to obtain property for meetings, community events and classes. The squadron saw an opportunity to become philanthropic and align its mission with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

“Between the two entities our hope is to continue safe boating, education and enjoyment of the precious Tennessee River for future generations,” said Jack O’Hearn, a long-time ORPS board member and one of the newest members on the KTNRB Board of Directors.

Immediately following the check presentation, local volunteers boarded KTNRB’s two 26-foot aluminum work boats to participate in a Melton Hill Lake cleanup as part of KTNRB’s 2025 river cleanup calendar.

This year marks the second consecutive year for the nonprofit to have a sponsored goal to remove 200,000 lbs. of trash from local waterways. With 102,590 lbs. of trash removed by nearly 500 volunteers already this year, KTnRB is on course to reach the milestone of 1,000,000 lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed since putting their first boats in the water in 2019.

“We are so grateful to the Oak Ridge Power Squadron for its decades of educational support and sharing its passion of our beloved waters,” said Mark Huber, KTNRB Board President. “Let's draw inspiration from the Oak Ridge Power Squadron’s ageless devotion as we write the next chapter in the Tennessee River's story.”

A volunteer loads a block of dock foam into the trash boat.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful Kicks Off New Initiative to Help Protect Freshwater Mussels with 1st Annual 'Mussel Fest'

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB) will host its 1 st annual ‘Tennessee River Watershed Mussel Fest’ on Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Seven Islands State Birding Park, located at 2809 Kelly Lane, Kodak, Tenn.

At the free festival, visitors will have the opportunity to touch a mussel, see the impact of mussel filtration in our waterways in a filtration display, enter in a raffle for door prizes, witness the release of 200 mussels into the French Broad River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, and watch program coordinators place Adopt a Mussel concrete silos into the riverbed, among other activities.

The festival is a component in the nonprofit’s five-part Tennessee River Mussel Movement Initiative, is a collaboration with advisement from the University of Tennessee (UT) Dept. of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, and is funded by Nobody Trashes Tennessee, a litter prevention campaign administered by the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (TDOT). 

Bankclimber mussel (Plectomerus dombeyanus) found by the KTnRB crew on Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River

The Mussel Movement initiative is an effort to both raise awareness around and bolster freshwater mussels, a threatened species that filters pollutants and bacteria from our waterways and is considered a cornerstone species in that the very structure of the ecosystem in seven-state Tennessee River watershed (the most bio-diverse ecosystem in North America) depends on the abundance of mussels.

In fact, a recent graduate study at the University of Tennessee conducted in 2023 proved that local freshwater mussels help to filter out microplastics from the Tennessee River watershed. The study further proved the vital role of freshwater mussels on local waterways in a time when their populations have been rapidly declining.

“The Mussel Movement Initiative has been a long time coming on KTnRB’s part and the enthusiastic, collaborative support we’ve received from UT and local scientific community is a sure sign of our region’s potential to have impact on this front,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. “The decline of freshwater mussels is an alarm bell that we need to listen to for the sake of our river, the very foundation of our community, our health, our culture, and the region’s economy.”

The Mussel Movement Initiative has a tagline of ‘Conserve. Inspire. Educate. Document. Value.’ with an action word associated with each of its five components: 

1. Conserve -  Adopt a Mussel program
   A program in which juvenile mussels provided by the Cumberland River Aquatic Center, a facility of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) are placed in concrete silos that provide protection as they mature. Adoptees make a donation to KTnRB to ‘adopt’ a mussel, name it, and be informed when it’s released into the river after developing in the silo.

2. Inspire – Tennessee River Watershed Mussel Fest
   A festival that engages the public with freshwater mussels and will be held in different parts of the Tennessee River watershed, potentially multiple locations a year. The festival also includes the release of mussels into the river and placement of Adopt a Mussel silos.

3. Educate – Education Lectures
   KTnRB’s new Education & Outreach Coordinator will be giving lectures to educate youth about the importance of our river system’s filtering cornerstone species.

4. Document – Mussel Shell Inventory
   As KTnRB has the unique task of hosting volunteer river cleanups (and scouting for those cleanups) in remote coves of all seven states within the Tennessee River watershed, the crew is taking photos of mussel shells that they find on the shorelines to document the presence of different mussel species within the watershed and with mussel identification oversight by UT professors who specialize in studies of freshwater mussels. In just a few short months of the program, KTnRB crews have already documented over a dozen freshwater mussel species in six lakes within the Tennessee River watershed.

5. Value – ‘A Mussel’s Worth’ Study
   A single adult freshwater mussel can filter between ten to 20 gallons of water a day from the Tennessee River watershed, the drinking source for communities within the Tennessee Valley. Additionally, many other species’ survival depend on freshwater mussels, such as fish, birds, and mammals like raccoons and otters. Not only does the river’s ecosystem depend on mussels, but, by extension, so do massive industries such as fishing and outdoor tourism. KTnRB is collaborating with UT to determine the dollar value of freshwater mussels on the Tennessee River watershed.

With a career specializing in the study of freshwater mussels, Dr. Michael McKinney, UT professor who serves as Director of the university’s Environmental Sciences program in the Dept. of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, is advising KTnRB on their Mussel Movement Initiative along with Dana Mills, Graduate Teaching Assistant.

“The Tennessee River watershed is arguably one of the most important ecosystems in our hemisphere, and its freshwater mussel population will always be a determining factor in how that ecosystem impacts our region,” Dr. McKinney said. “It’s great to be able to combine efforts between a boots-on-the-ground, take action sort of nonprofit like KTnRB and our department at UT, which brings to the table years of research and proven studies around freshwater mussels.”

KTnRB first began pursuing work around freshwater mussels after attending a 2019 Keep America Beautiful national conference and witnessing the work of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, a nonprofit that maintains an Adopt an Oyster program in the Chesapeake Bay. Several years later, Dr. McKinney attended a meeting with KTnRB staff and the Tennessee River Mussel Movement Initiative has grown out of an effort to pursue an Adopt a Mussel program, a freshwater approach to follow the work being done on the waterfront in Baltimore.

In preparation for the mussel release that will occur during this year’s Tennessee River Watershed Mussel Fest on Saturday, May 17, KTnRB is hosting a river cleanup on Friday, May 2, launching from Seven Islands State Birding Park in collaboration with Tennessee State Parks and the Friends of Seven Islands. The area has not yet experienced a river cleanup since devastation from Hurricane Helene, and Gibi said this is a way to give the mussels being released a head start on their work in the river.

Pimpleback (Plethobasus cooperianus) found by KTnRB crew on Fort Loudoun Lake of the Tennessee River.

For more information on KTnRB’s Mussel Fest on Saturday, May 17, 2025, in the Knoxville, Tenn. area, the river cleanup prior to the Mussel Fest, or for information on participating in the new Adopt a Mussel program or any other part of the Tennessee River Mussel Movement Initiative, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org. 

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful Removes 200,000 Lbs. of Trash in 2024

Goal to Remove 1 Million Pounds of Trash and Recycle 1 Million Cigarette Butts in 2025

Taking it to the finish line on New Year’s Eve, river cleanup nonprofit Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful™ (KTnRB) celebrated officially achieving their ‘2024 Goal to Remove 200,000 lbs. of Trash' with 200,056 lbs. removed by 692 volunteers.

The program is sponsored by Clayton Home Building Group® and is part of the company’s three-year commitment to support the river cleanup efforts of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. To date, KTnRB has rallied 4,540 volunteers to remove 836,296 lbs. of trash at 208 cleanups.

“The phenomenal aspect of our partnership with Clayton is that they’re all in, from offering sponsorship support, to organizing river cleanups with their staff, to participating in our Cigarette Litter Prevention and Recycling Program,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

“Because of Clayton’s immersive participation in serving their river community, they will be helping us to reach not one, but two milestones this year: removing one million pounds of trash from waterways and recycling one million cigarette butts.”

Since partnering with KTnRB in 2023, Clayton team members have volunteered at KTnRB cleanups in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi in areas near Clayton home building and supply facilities. To date, 741 Clayton team members have removed 138,814 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed.

When KTnRB reaches this year’s sponsored goal to remove 200,000 lbs. of trash, Clayton’s support will help KTnRB hit the milestone of 1 million lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed since they put their first boat in the water in 2019.

Not only have the Clayton team members added big numbers to the KTnRB cleanup statistics, they’ve set records, too. On Feb. 10, 2023, 82 Clayton team members helped removed 28,696 lbs. of trash from Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tenn. in just a few hours. Not to be outdone, 172 Clayton team members from another facility turned out at the next cleanup on March 24, 2023, to remove 31,115 lbs. of trash from Norris Lake in New Tazewell, Tenn. This set KTnRB records of most trash removed at a single cleanup as wells as most volunteers participating in a single cleanup.

In all, Clayton team members have participated in KTnRB river cleanups on six bodies of water, including:

• Norris Lake of the Clinch River (Tennessee)

• Douglas Lake of the French Broad River (Tennessee)

• Cherokee Lake of the Holston River (Tennessee)

• Fort Loudoun Lake of the Tennessee River (Tennessee)

• Pickwick Lake of the Tennessee River (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee)

• Cedar Creek Reservoir of the Bear Creek Reservoir System (Alabama)

In addition to removing trash from waterways, Gibi said that KTnRB is also focused on preventing cigarette butts from entering waterways. "Littered cigarettes in waterways have the potential to leak dangerous chemicals that can be toxic to aquatic life. In 2025, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful expects to reach the milestone of recycling 1 million cigarette butts, preventing them from ever entering our watersheds."

To support the program, Clayton has sponsored 100 educational art-wrapped cigarette receptacles in locations along the Tennessee River watershed. Since September 2003, 63,800 cigarette butts were collected via the 100 receptacles and recycled into outdoor plastic furniture via the program.  Combined with other partners submitting cigarette butts for plastic recycling, KTnRB is on track to hit the milestone in 2025 of 1,000,000 cigarette butts recycled since they started their program in 2019.

With the 2025 cleanup schedule already underway, Clayton team members joined KTnRB’s first cleanup in January on Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tenn. where flood outfall from Hurricane Helene has left excessive amounts of manmade debris along the lake shorelines.

Though the bay they were launching from turned out to be frozen solid that morning, preventing the KTnRB boat from entering the water (a first-time experience for KTnRB), volunteers walked along the surrounding shoreline and still managed to remove 2,418 lbs. of trash in just a few hours.

There are two more cleanups already scheduled with Clayton team members:

• Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 on Cherokee Lake

• Friday, March 21, 2025 on Douglas Lake

Both cleanups will be cleaning up debris that landed on the shorelines of both lakes from the outfall of Hurricane Helene.

“Unfortunately, last year’s hurricanes have left us with a lot of work to do, but the commitment of partners like Clayton Home Building Group are giving us a strong leg up in our efforts,” said Gibi. “We’re so grateful for Clayton’s commitment to help us protect our precious watershed, which is not only our drinking water source, but is considered to be the most biodiverse river system in North America and generates $12 billion a year in the recreation industry alone.”

For more information about joining Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s river cleanup and litter prevention efforts, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

Publix Becomes 2025 Title Sponsor of Tennessee River Nonprofit’s Mission-Critical Cleanup Program

Olin employees in KTnRB’s Adopt a River Mile program pose with a pile of trash that they collected at one of their 2024 cleanups.

Publix Super Markets has become the official 2025 title sponsor for the Adopt a River Mile program offered within the seven-state Tennessee River watershed by Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful™ (KTnRB).

KTnRB is a 501c3 nonprofit and the 1st Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on the river. The seven-state Tennessee River watershed is said to be the most biodiverse river system in North America. Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director, said the Adopt a River Mile program is one of the most mission-critical programs they offer.

Kimberly Arp of Chattanooga has removed several hundreds of pounds of trash on her river mile on Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River. She's organized a cleanup that will happen in February 2025 with a group of volunteers, while she has also done a cleanup individually while paddleboarding on the river.

“With a mission ‘to educate and inspire others to take action for the Tennessee River,’ we consider our Adopt a River Mile program the end game goal for our river cleanup efforts,” said Gibi. 

In the lifetime of the Adopt a River Mile program so far, KTnRB has connected with 123 individuals/groups who have adopted 238 miles within the Tennessee River watershed. Those adoptees have reported hosting 59 cleanups on their own. Collectively, they have removed a total of 275,518.5 pounds of manmade debris from the Tennessee River watershed. 

For perspective, the Tennessee River alone is 652 miles long, and the Tennessee River watershed is comprised of 42,000 miles of rivers and streams.

“Publix is proud to be this year’s title sponsor of the Adopt a River Mile program, which spans several states within our operating area,” said Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous. “As responsible citizens in the communities we serve, we are committed to helping protect, conserve and restore our waterways. Supporting Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful is another way we are doing good, together.”

Every participant in KTnRB’s Adopt a River Mile program receives a package that includes river cleanup supplies, volunteer t-shirts, and stainless-steel water bottles (an example of a solution to the cups, bottles and cans found on river shorelines). They also receive a free sign with the individual/group name declaring the river mile under their care.

The original scope of the program has historically been supported through a work plan that KTnRB has with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Tennessee Department of Transportation, two agencies that have also long-supported KTnRB’s river cleanup efforts. The adoption signs are provided by KTnRB partner and national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters.

Brandon and Sarah Jones live in a floating home on Fontana Lake of the Little Tennessee River where they have organized cleanups over the last five years. In October 2024, they organized a three-day cleanup with dozens of volunteers helping to fill 12 large dumpsters full of litter, boasting a whopping 56,832 lbs. of trash removed in 2025 alone! Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful came with their two boats and also contracted Living Lands & Waters to bring three of their boats, and together the two groups added an additional 30,168 lbs. of trash removed in that same weekend.

25,000 lb. Trash Milestone Reached this Year at 4th Annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain

The second group of volunteers at the Chickamauga Lake Cleanup pose with a mountain of trash they collected from the shorelines of the Tennessee River. Just as their boat approached this site, the volunteers were greeted by a pair of bald eagles overhead and a heard of deer on the shoreline.

It’s been four years now that Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful has hosted the ‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain,’ and because of iSustain Recycling’s sponsorship, those cleanups have now surpassed 25,000 lbs. of litter removed by a total of 119 volunteers on Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River.

iSustain and Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful staff celebrate a full trash boat at the 4th annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain.

The cleanups that were held this year resulted in 5,959 lbs. of trash removed from the river’s shorelines. Items removed included:

·      124 bags of trash

·      9 tires

·      3 steel drums

·      132.5 square feet of Styrofoam

·      92 lbs. of scrap metal

·      An abandoned fishing boat

The 2024 cleanup series was made possible thanks to a $7,5000 sponsorship from iSustain Recycling, a national sustainability services company that processes over 247 million pounds of recyclable products each year.

“This series has been possible over the last four years because iSustain initiated contact and asked us to do these cleanups with them, making an ‘all-in’ commitment both with their sponsorship and their own staff—some employees even being flown in from other parts of the country to participate,” said Gibi. “It’s inspiring to see returning and new faces alike from the iSustain team and local volunteers as they make such an impact for our waterways.”

iSustain employees and local volunteers pose with one of the trash piles they made collecting litter from shorelines of Chickamauga Lake on the Tennessee River.

Mark Huber, Vice President of Business Development for iSustain and KTNRB Board President, joined both cleanups with staff from the company as well as his family. He and his wife, Dawn Huber, who is owner of iSustain, have also adopted Tennessee River Mile 489 on Chickamauga Lake through KTNRB’s Adopt a River Mile program.

Two volunteers share their findings at the 4th annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain.

“So excited to continue to support this effort to bring focus to, educate, and have ‘boots’ on the ground cleaning our beautiful river,” said Huber. “Our team loves supporting this initiative as it is a natural extension of our company’s effort to improve our impact on the environment.

“Together with KTNRB, we want to inspire people of all ages to change their behavior to reduce, reuse, and recycle, which ultimately eliminates litter in our environment.”

The event series was also held in partnership with the Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful, who assisted with local volunteer recruitment and participated in the cleanups.

The cleanups yielded enough volunteer-collected litter for three boatsful of trash, enough to pack a 40-yard dumpster (that’s 8’ x 8’ x 22’) to the brim after the two cleanups. The dumpster service was donated by Capital Waste Services in Soddy Daisy.

For a list of upcoming cleanups with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.

A Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful boat full of trash collected at the 4th annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain arrives at the boat launch to be hauled out of the water.

Nonprofit & Recycling Business Aiming to Hit 25,000 Lb. Milestone at 4th Annual ‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Presented by Isustain’ this Saturday

iSustain VP Mark Huber, iSustain staff, and more  volunteers celebrate at another cleaned cove during the 3rd annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain at which 8,602 lbs. of trash were removed.

This Saturday, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) and iSustain will host the

‘4th annual Chickamauga Lake Cleanup presented by iSustain.’ The cleanup will take place this

Saturday, June 8, at 10 a.m. and launch from Chester Frost Park.

In its previous three years, this annual cleanup has already inspired 90 volunteers to remove 19,901lbs. of trash from Chickamauga Lake. Organizers at KTNRB and iSustain are striving to hit the milestone of 25,000 lbs. of trash removed in this cleanup’s 4th year.

iSustain owner, Dawn Huber, iSustain staffer Ava Davis, and KTNRB's Kathleen Gibi arrive back at shore with one of the four trash boats collected in 2022's iSustain Chickamauga Lake cleanup when 5,803 lbs. of trash were removed.

The cleanup series is made possible thanks to a title sponsorship from iSustain Recycling, a

national sustainability services company that processes over 182 million pounds of recyclable

products each year.

“iSustain has demonstrated the true impact that one company can make in working with a water cleanup nonprofit and we’re so grateful for their commitment to protecting our waterways,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “On top the fact that their staff members roll up their sleeves and clean the shorelines each year at this series, they work year-round making an impact for our planet in their day-to-day work!”
 

Volunteers from the community are invited to join the cleanup held on Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. Employees from iSustain will take part in the cleanup, too.

The event series is also held in partnership with Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful, who regularly holds cleanups in the area and is collaborating on this series by assisting with volunteer recruitment.

KTNRB will take volunteers out on their 26-foot work boats to clean a portion of the Tennessee River on Chickamauga Lake.

“So exciting to be a part of the KTNRB efforts to educate, create awareness, and make an

impact on the litter in our waterways,” said Mark Huber, Vice President of Business

Development for iSustain, Inc. and KTNRB Board President. “KTNRB is focusing on the source

of ocean litter and microplastic contamination, and through outreach and education we can all

make a difference on our beautiful waterways here in Tennessee as well as nationally.”

Volunteers must register for the event as boat seats are limited. Registration for both events

can be found at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/chickamauga.

iSustain owner, Dawn Huber, iSustain staffer Ava Davis, and KTNRB's Kathleen Gibi arrive back at shore with one of the four trash boats collected in 2022's iSustain Chickamauga Lake cleanup when 5,803 lbs. of trash were removed.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful Receives Its 3rd National Award, This Time for Cigarette Litter Prevention Project with Dollywood

Left to right: KTnRB Executive Director Kathleen Gibi; Keep America Beautiful President & CEO Jennifer Lawson; and KTNRB Programs Manager Kendall Mayers

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTnRB) was recently awarded its 3rd national award since becoming a 501c3 nonprofit in 2018. KTnRB is the recipient of the Keep America Beautiful® 2023 National Innovation Award for its Cigarette Litter Prevention project created in partnership with Dollywood. Winners were announced during the Keep America Beautiful National Conference held in San Diego, Ca. on February 12, 2024.

Since the partnership with Dollywood in 2021, the program has led to plastic getting recycled from more than 500,000 cigarette butts. The project also made Dollywood the 1st theme park in the world to recycle the plastic from every cigarette butt collected in guest-facing receptacles on its property.

Collecting cigarette butts before they’re thrown on the ground at Dollywood saves them from getting washed into the Pigeon River, which runs through the center of the theme park and is a tributary of the Tennessee River.

The Keep America Beautiful Innovation Awards honor affiliates that have developed innovative partnerships and programs to advance the mission of Keep America Beautiful. The awards spotlight true innovation that includes unique ideas and methods that overcome challenges.

Partners involved in the cigarette plastic recycling program at Dollywood pose on a bench made of the plastic recycled from collected cigarette butts and next to one of the receptacles that collect cigarette butts at Dollywood.

“Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful is proud to work with Dollywood on a project that fosters a non-traditional approach to recycling as well as protecting our waterways,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTnRB Executive Director. “Dollywood continues to immerse its efforts in giving back to the community and we’re so grateful to the their staff as well as our collaborating partners who have made this trailblazing initiative possible.”

KTnRB was able to provide Dollywood with 26 art-wrapped cigarette receptacles through a collaboration of grants and sponsorships from Keep America Beautiful, Keep Tennessee Beautiful, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the American Eagle Foundation.

TerraCycle, an international recycling company, covers the cost of shipping the collected cigarette butts to their facility so that the plastic microfibers in the cigarette filters can be recycled into outdoor plastic furniture. Two park benches donated by TerraCycle and made from recycled cigarette plastic are now installed at Dollywood near the theme park’s bald eagle exhibit.

“Congratulations to the KAB affiliates, state agencies and individuals chosen as our 2023 award recipients. Your efforts serve as a testament to leadership and the innovation necessary to create cleaner, greener, and more beautiful communities, revitalizing a sense of pride within communities across the country,” said Jennifer Lawson, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful.

In addition to working with Dollywood on the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, KTnRB also has over 1,000 art-wrapped cigarette receptacles installed at marinas, campgrounds, and tourism sites in all seven states of the Tennessee River watershed.

This is the project’s 2nd award. In August 2023, the Tennessee Recycling Coalition named KTnRB ‘Nonprofit Recycler of the Year’ for the cigarette plastic recycling project at Dollywood.

For more information about joining Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program or to join litter cleanup efforts on the Tennessee River watershed, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

Oak Ridge Power Squadron Donates $79,200 to River Cleanup Nonprofit, Largest Donation Given to Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful to Date

Left to right: Melinda Watson (TVA representative on KTNRB Board), Veronica O’Hearn (ORPS board), Jack O’Hearn (ORPS Board member and now KTNRB Board member), and Kathleen Gibi (KTNRB Executive Director) at the check presentation of OPRS’ $79,200 donation to KTNRB just before KTNRB crews took volunteers out on a cleanup of Melton Hill Lake.

On Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, representatives from the Oak Ridge Power Squadron presented Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) with a $79,200 check. The donation was the largest that the river cleanup nonprofit has received to date.

“We’re grateful to the Oak Ridge Power Squadron for their commitment to protecting Melton Hill Lake over the years and for the long-lasting impact that their donated dollars will make on the entire seven-state Tennessee River watershed,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for the river cleanup nonprofit that launched its first work boat in 2019.

The Oak Ridge Power Squadron (ORPS) incorporated in 1947 and was the first inland Power Squadron. The original charter was presented March 10, 1947 by the late Captain Hyman Rickover who later became known as the ‘Father of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Program’ and a four-star admiral. 

ORPS is a non-profit educational organization and part of a unit of District 17 of the U.S. Power Squadron now America's Boating Club. The squadron’s mission is to improve maritime safety and enjoyability through classes in seamanship, navigation and other related subjects. 

Through the years the Squadron was able to obtain property for meetings, community events and classes. Upon liquidation, the squadron had an opportunity to become philanthropic and align its mission with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

“Between the two entities our hope is to continue safe boating, education and enjoyment of the precious Tennessee River for future generations,” said Jack O’Hearn, a long-time ORPS board member and one of the newest members on the KTNRB Board of Directors.

Immediately following the check presentation, local volunteers boarded KTNRB’s two 26-foot aluminum work boats to participate in a Melton Hill Lake cleanup as the kickoff event of KTNRB’s 2024 river cleanup calendar. Ten volunteers went out on the cleanup and were able to remove 1,758 lbs. of trash in the cleanup.

Volunteers celebrate a full boat of trash they collected on Melton Hill Lake at a cleanup held following the check presentation ceremony.

There’s a new goal for the nonprofit to remove 200,000 lbs. of trash from local waterways this year. In 2023, KTNRB helped to rally nearly 1,000 volunteers to remove over 218,000 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed.

“We are so grateful to the Oak Ridge Power Squadron for its decades of educational support and sharing its passion of our beloved waters,” said Mark Huber, KTNRB Board President. “Let's draw inspiration from the Oak Ridge Power Squadron’s ageless devotion as we write the next chapter in the Tennessee River's story.”

For more information about Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful or to learn how you can get involved, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

Nonprofit Reaches Milestone of 600,000 lbs. of Trash Removed as Volunteers Collected 25,397 lbs. of Trash from Waterways During Tennessee River Month

Volunteers that came out to clean Wheeler Lake of the Tennessee River in Decatur, Ala. helped to remove 4,017 lbs. of trash, nudging Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful past their 600,000 lb. milestone at the last cleanup during Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month in October.

There’s now nearly 13 tons less trash on the shorelines of local waterways thanks to 107 volunteers who came out to participate in river cleanups to celebrate October’s ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by TVA.’

October’s volunteers also helped Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) cruise right past its milestone of 600,000 lbs. (or 300 tons) of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed since it became a nonprofit. A Boeing 747, one of the world’s largest planes, weighs 300 tons to give a physical perspective of the weight of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed. For context of the group’s momentum: KTNRB had removed 47,756 lbs. of trash before putting its first boat in the water in 2019.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful's Kelly Ferguson poses with one of the trash boats that she drove at on the Wheeler Lake cleanup of the Tennessee River in Decatur, Ala. The cleanup was the final stint in Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by TVA.

“We’ve come such a long way in a short window of time, and it’s all thanks to the good people who volunteer their time to protect their waterways by cleaning trash that wasn’t even theirs,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “This year has been full of new records broken, and the records belong to those thousands of volunteers who have made a commitment to this precious river system of ours.”

In the 2023 calendar year, KTNRB is now setting a new record with every pound collected. So far this year, 205,603 lbs. of trash have been removed from the Tennessee River watershed by 959 volunteers. Gibi said that the cleanup series during October’s celebrations was a perfect example of volunteers from all walks of life, with the series cleanups taking place within rural settings like the Powell River up in New Tazewell, Tenn., to more industrial settings like Ingalls Harbor in Decatur, Ala.

Volunteers from the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation's Region 2 office came out for a cleanup on Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River and cleaned several coves around Harrison Bay State Park, removing 4,847 lbs. of trash.

The cleanup series swept through three states and nine cities with just five events:

Oct.14 New Tazewell, Tenn. Powell River | 6,700 lbs. | 28 volunteers

Oct. 15 Bean Station, Tenn. Cherokee Lake | 4,850 lbs. | 18 volunteers

Oct. 19 Harrison, Tenn. Chickamauga Lake | 4,847 lbs. | 20 volunteers

Oct. 28 Iuka, MS/Counce, TN/Waterloo, AL Pickwick Lake | 4,983 lbs. | 25 volunteers

Oct. 29 Decatur, AL Wheeler Lake | 4,017 lbs. | 16 volunteers

TOTAL 25,397 lbs. | 107 volunteers

Volunteers from the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation's Region 2 office stuck around after the Chickamauga Lake cleanup to help Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful's Kathleen Gibi fill up two full trash boats.

The 6th annual river cleanup series was only part of the celebration. ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’ was officially proclaimed by governors of the four states touched by the Tennessee River, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as well as Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Paris, Tenn. Mayor Kathy Ray.

In addition to TVA’s ongoing sponsorship of the cleanup series, the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation’s Nobody Trashes Tennessee litter prevention campaign and Keep Tennessee Beautiful have consistently funded ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’ since it launched in 2018. This year’s series consisted of two cleanups held in collaboration with the national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters, who brought three of their 30-foot work boats, and Allegheny CleanWays who brought their 30-foot work boat to supplement KTNRB’s two work boats.

Volunteers load up what turned out to be three boats full of trash during the cleanup on Powell River in New Tazewell, Tenn. to kick off Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by TVA in October.

Gibi said that many local partners made the series a success, including:

Powell River, Tenn.: Bunch Hollow Campground, The Norris Lake Project, and Allegheny CleanWays

Bean Station, Tenn.: Lakeside Marina, Cherokee Lake Users Association, Care N.E.T., Keep Morristown Hamblen Beautiful, and Allegheny CleanWays

Harrison, Tenn.: Harrison Bay State Park, Capital Waste Services of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee Dept. of Transportation Region 2

Counce, TN/Iuka, MS/Waterloo, AL: Grand Harbor Marina, Hardin County Solid Waste, Keep Mississippi Beautiful, Pickwick Parrot Heads, Caterpillar-Reman, Clayton Homes-Savannah, Stryker-MS, Women Who Love Nature – West TN, Living Lands &; Waters

Decatur, AL: Decatur Morgan County Tourism, Decatur Parks & Recreation, TVA, Living Lands & Waters

The national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters came to join two cleanups during Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month. Here, two of the trash boats drive back from collecting trash piles made by volunteers on the Alabama shorelines of Pickwick Lake.

Beyond the cleanup series’ impressive numbers, Gibi said they discovered a cove on Chickamauga Lake that they had cleaned four years prior that had once had chronic litter and was now virtually spotless. She attributed it to a cultural shift since the legacy litter had been removed and ongoing cleanup efforts by their Adopt a River Mile participants as well as river cleanup efforts such as the annual Tennessee River Rescue put on by Waterways.

“That was so encouraging to see at our Chickamauga Lake cleanup this year and we hope to start having that experience more often,” said Gibi. “We’d love to see such a reduction in litter that we work ourselves out of the business of larger river cleanup efforts—and with signs like we saw on Chickamauga Lake, it seems we’re starting to head in that direction!”

Nonprofit Expected to Reach Lifetime 600,000 lbs. of Trash Removed During ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month Presented by TVA’

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) is seeking volunteers for four cleanups beginning October 14, 2023, that will be held in three states during October, which is celebrated as ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by the Tennessee Valley Authority.’ 

The big deal this year: volunteers will be aiming to help KTNRB surpass 600,000 lbs. of trash removed since forming. The nonprofit began in 2016 and was removing a little over 10,000 lbs. of trash a year until introducing its first boat to the water in 2019. Since then, annual trash totals have grown substantially and now with a fleet of two boats, KTNRB has already set a new record in 2023 with 153,909 lbs. of trash removed so far this year.

Volunteers will be taken out on five 30-foot john boats to clean shorelines identified with large deposits of litter. Each of the four cleanups will take place in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama within the Tennessee River watershed. 

“This river system is one of the most beautiful and biodiverse rivers in North America, and it’s always inspiring to see how many people come out during this month of celebrating the Tennessee River watershed,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “We’re grateful for the continued support from TVA, whose administration challenged us to begin hosting the river celebration that only keeps growing each year!”

The month will also include proclamations from governors and mayors across the Tennessee River watershed and KTNRB challenged its network of nearly 200 river mile adoptees to host their own river cleanups during the month. Additionally, those who are unable to participate in a cleanup can still help protect the Tennessee River by taking a pledge in KTNRB’s #Pledge4Rivers campaign.

“Powerful partnerships, like the one TVA has with KTNRB, help us achieve far more than any of us could ever do individually,” said Rachel Terrell, TVA Manager of Public Outreach & Support. "All those miles of beautiful public lands and waterways belong to all of us. That’s why it’s so important to not only do what we can to keep them clean, but to try to prevent abuse of the land and water, and to educate residents and visitors about the importance of this mission. We work every day to protect the Tennessee River watershed, which supports one of the most biodiverse collections of species in the world.”

RIVER CLEANUP SCHEDULE

KTNRB is partnering once again with Living Lands & Waters (LL&W), a national nonprofit based in Moline, Ill. that cleans North American rivers and who will bring three of their 30-foot aluminum boats to the cleanups on Pickwick and Wheeler lakes, adding to KTNRB’s two boats so that even more volunteers can participate. KTNRB has also contracted Allegheny CleanWays, a river cleanup group in Pittsburgh, Pa. to bring their boat to the cleanups on Norris and Cherokee lakes.

The cleanups during Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month are scheduled as follows:

Saturday, Oct. 14 New Tazwell, TN | Norris Lake
Sunday, Oct.15 Bean Station, TN | Cherokee Lake
Saturday, Oct. 28 Counce, Tenn. | Iuka, Miss.| Waterloo, Ala. | Pickwick Lake
Saturday, Oct. 29 Decatur, Ala. | Wheeler Lake

Volunteers may register for any cleanup at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups. 

The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Nobody Trashes Tennessee also helps to support this month of celebration through its litter grant.

HISTORY OF CELEBRATING KTNRWB MONTH

Gibi said that it was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), that originally challenged KTNRB to celebrate an awareness month for the Tennessee River. The awareness month was launched in the state of Tennessee in 2018 and has now expanded into a seven-state awareness campaign in 2023. 

Dozens of proclamations from governors and mayors within the Tennessee River watershed have been proclaimed over the years. Last year, four governors and four mayors issued proclamations for Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.

After Living Lands & Waters worked hosted the Tennessee River Tour in 2015, TVA and Keep Tennessee Beautiful (funded by the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation) founded the formation of KTNRB as a nonprofit that would champion support and protection for the 652-mile Tennessee River and its tributaries. Since forming, KTNRB has rallied nearly 4,000 volunteers and is expected to surpass 600,000 lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed this October.

As KTRWB Month is celebrated in different states, KTNRB collaborates with affiliates from Keep Tennessee Beautiful, Keep Mississippi Beautiful, and Keep Alabama Beautiful. 

“We love celebrating this month because it brings individuals, groups, organizations, elected officials, and even international companies together in prioritizing our precious river,” said Gibi. “Our slogan is ‘Your River. Your Impact.’ and it’s true—when it comes to our waterways, you get what you give, so it’s inspiring to see so many taking the right steps.”

For more information on Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by TVA, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/ktnrwb-month. 

Volunteers Remove 6.6 Tons (13,137 lbs) of Trash from Four Rivers in ‘Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series Presented by Oris’

Volunteers help to load a tractor tire on Parksville Lake in Vonore, Tenn. at a cleanup held on Sunday, Feb. 26. A small group of 6 volunteers 1,462 lbs. of trash that day.

A collective 66 volunteers removed 13,137 lbs. of trash from four different rivers in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s 3rd annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series presented by Oris Watches. Since the series began in 2001, a total of 166 volunteers have helped to remove 44,870 lbs. of trash from waterways in the Cherokee National Forest.

The most recent series total has the river cleanup nonprofit staged to surpass its record-breaking year in 2021, in which more than 700 volunteers removed over 152,000 lbs. of trash. So far in 2023, the group has already rallied 725 volunteers to remove 149,320 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed.

Volunteers helping out on Watauga Lake in Elizabethton, Tenn. pose with one of the five piles of trash that volunteers created on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2023. A total of 24 volunteers helped to remove 4,616 lbs. of trash that day.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) established the Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series to help preserve lakes in the Tennessee’s largest tract of public land, showcasing the vastness of the forest by hosting river cleanups spanning from South Holston Lake in Abingdon, Va. to Parksville Lake near Chattanooga, Tenn.

“The lakes within the Cherokee National Forest are some of the most stunning among the bodies of water in within the Tennessee River watershed and it’s always a privilege to showcase their stunning beauty as well as the need to address litter that has entered their waterways,” said Kathleen Gibi, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) Executive Director. “We’re so grateful to Oris, additional sponsors and partners, and especially the volunteers for making this series such as success.”

UT student volunteers clean out primarily plastic litter from one of the six shorelines cleaned on Tellico Lake on Sunday, Feb. 19, where 29 volunteers removed 5,509 lbs. of trash.

KTNRB hosted four river cleanups in February and a rainchecked cleanup wrapping up the series on Sunday, Sept. 10, collaborating with local Keep America Beautiful affiliates and local governments:

CHEROKEE NATIONAL FOREST RIVER CLEANUP SERIES RESULTS

• Feb. 5 Elizabethton, TN @ Watauga Lake of the Watauga River | 4,616 lbs. removed by 24 volunteers

• Feb. 19 Vonore, TN @ Tellico Lake of the Little Tennessee River | 5,509 lbs. removed by 29 volunteers

• Feb. 26 Benton, TN @ Parksville Lake of the Ocoee River | 1,462 lbs. removed by 6 volunteers

• Sept. 10 Abingdon, VA @ South Holston Lake on the Holston River | 2,004 lbs. removed by 7 volunteers

• TOTAL: 13,137 lbs. removed by 66 volunteers

A small group of 6 volunteers 1,462 lbs. of trash on Parksville Lake on Sunday, Feb. 26, as part of the Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series presented by Oris.

The 66 volunteers had other harrowing statistics from their efforts, including a total of 369 bags of trash and 32 tires removed.

“Oris was thrilled to partner with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful for four cleanup events throughout 2023,” said V.J. Geronimo, Oris CEO – The Americas. “Working with dedicated volunteers and Oris enthusiasts to clean up nearly five tons of trash was enriching and most of all, impactful. Looking forward to continuing our collaboration as part of our Change For The Better program.”

A group of volunteers celebrate one of the piles of trash they collected to help beautify and protect South Holston Lake in Abningdon, Va. in the final cleanup of the Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series presented by Oris.

This year’s series was also boosted with help from staff from Allegheny CleanWays, a nonprofit that hosts river cleanup efforts on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania. The organization’s Capt. Evan Clark drove KTNRB’s second 26-foot boat at the cleanups held on Watauga and Tellico lakes to accommodate the larger group of volunteers.

Additional 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 Budget Dumpster 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 4th annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series in 2024. For more information about KTNRB’s schedule, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.

Capt. Evan Clark drives KTNRB's boat as he and Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director, round up the trash piles that volunteers collected on Tellico Lake.