Tennessee River Cleanup Efforts to Increase with Expansion of Nonprofit Fleet Thanks to Donations from TVA and Yamaha Rightwaters™

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) can now boast a fleet of two 26-foot river cleanup boats after celebrating the maiden voyage of the organization’s second boat earlier this week with a cleanup held on Fort Loudoun Lake of the Tennessee River. The nonprofit’s board members and their families participated in the cleanup, removing 1,453 lbs. of trash during the boat’s first venture on the water.

The purchase of the custom aluminum john boat, named The Holston after one of the two rivers that converge to form the Tennessee River, was made possible largely through funding and donations from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Yamaha Rightwaters™, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based Home Depot (Schaad Road) store, and Premier Watersports of Knoxville.

“Having this second boat in our fleet is going to be a gamechanger that will allow us to arguably double our impact for the seven-state Tennessee River watershed,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director.

“We’re particularly proud that such a wide-ranging representation of sponsors who we see as champions for our waterways were willing to step up to help us acquire this boat, because it’s going to take an effort from all levels of the community to protect our precious river system.”

Some of KTNRB’s board members and their families participated in the maiden voyage cleanup for the nonprofit’s new boat on Fort Loudoun Lake of the Tennessee River on July 31, 2022.

Having just one boat up until now, KTNRB hosts over 40 river cleanups a year throughout the seven-state Tennessee River watershed, with more than 700 volunteers helping them to remove over 152,000 lbs. of trash in 2021. Following the cleanup held this week, nearly 300 volunteers have helped to remove over 85,000 lbs. of trash in 2022 thus far.

TVA, who helped to start Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in 2016, provided funding that primarily assisted with the purchase of the custom john boat and trailer. Though TVA is primarily known for supplying power to 153 individual local power companies, it also has a Natural Resources group that supports more than 40 river cleanup groups each year.

“Since TVA helped KTNRB acquire their first boat in 2019 and was a founding partner, it only made since that we help with the expansion of obtaining the second boat. Providing funding to organizations like KTNRB help TVA to meet is mission of service by providing natural resource stewardship and outdoor recreation opportunities on TVA’s public lands and waters across the valley,” according to Rebecca Hayden, Director, Natural Resources at TVA. “Their efforts help to provide a safe, natural environment not just for the public, but also for wildlife.”

Yamaha Rightwaters™ generously donated the highly sought-after V MAX SHO® 90 outboard motor and tiller arm. The motor matches a replica donation Yamaha made in 2020 for KTNRB’s first boat, The Tennessee. Since the first motor donation was made in 2020, KTNRB has been able to remove over 293,000 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed.

“Two Yamaha facilities call the Tennessee River home, so it only makes sense for Yamaha Rightwaters to work alongside of KTNRB to keep the Tennessee River’s waterways clean,” said John O’Keefe, Senior Specialist, Government Relations, Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit and KTNRB board member. “This is an organization that is really making a difference – it’s that simple. We look forward to helping KTNRB accelerate its mission with a second  cleanup boat.”

Yamaha Rightwaters™ has also consistently sponsored KTNRB’s annual Ripple Effect Awards, through which river champions are recognized for outstanding efforts to protect local waterways.

Preparing a boat to be river-worthy involves expenses beyond the boat, motor and trailer purchase, and KTNRB received help on this front, as well. A Knoxville-based Home Depot (Schaad Road) store donated approx. $2,500 in supplies. This included a truck bed tool box that was welded onto the boat to serve as a dry box, pressure-treated wood that was used to make volunteer benches spanning the 26-foot boat, and a variety of river cleanup tools and safety gear that help the boat to meet U.S. Coast Guard standards.

Premier Watersports of Knoxville saved KTNRB a large sum by donating the labor expenses of installing Yamaha’s motor and tiller arm. They also donated a gas tank (filled with gas), and a boat battery with a water-proof case.

“For a nonprofit with a humble budget like ours is, these covered costs go a long way for us to be able to make an even greater impact on our waterways, and we’re so very grateful to each of our sponsors for making this boat purchase possible,” said Gibi.

Until now, Gibi said that KTNRB was in the position of each cleanup relying on their one boat being operational. As their first boat had been through several years of service and as the requests for river cleanups have increased, they realized that a backup boat was essential.

Soon, however, Gibi said that KTNRB staffing will add two positions that will serve as boat captains at cleanups, among other organizational responsibilities. Currently, Gibi is the only full-time staff member and sole boat driver for the nonprofit. She said they’re working on securing funding for the new positions now and hope to begin hiring in 2023.

“The momentum we’ve had from the support of volunteers, partners and sponsors over the last few years has been inspiring and overwhelming,” said Gibi. “It’s our mission to inspire others to take action for this river, and that’s what we’re seeing more and more.”

‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend Presented by Isustain’ to Take Place with Two Cleanups June 10-11

Group of volunteers, including iSustain employees, with one of the trash piles they collected at last year’s cleanups.

iSustain owners Mark and Dawn Huber collect litter on Chickamauga Lake at the 2021 cleanups.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) will host a two-part volunteer cleanup series

called the ‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend presented by iSustain’ held on Friday, June 10,

and Saturday, June 11.

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.

“Not only does iSustain work daily to protect our waterways by reducing waste going to our landfill on the industrial level, but their team consistently participates in community cleanups,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “We’re proud to work with and be supported by such an environmentally-focused company.”

Volunteers from the community are invited to join both cleanups held on Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, which will also be powered by employees from iSustain.

Mark Huber, iSustain owner and Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful board member, towes a boat full of trash collected at last year's cleanup with KTNRB Executive Director Kathleen Gibi at the helm.

The event series is also held in partnership with Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful and the Chickamauga Fly, Bait & Casting Club (a participant in KTNRB’s Adopt a River Mile program). Both partners are assisting with local volunteer recruitment for the weekend’s cleanups.

KTNRB will take volunteers out on their 26-foot work boat each day to clean a portion of the Tennessee River near Possum Creek.

“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 member. “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 and nationally.”

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

can be found at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/chickamauga1.

olunteers pose with trash they collected at last year's cleanup.

Volunteers Remove over 25,000 Lbs. of Trash at Sites Impacted by Natural Disasters Along the Tennessee River

One of the two volunteer groups at the Paris, Tenn. cleanup celebrates beside one of three trash boats filled up. This cleanup day marked the 3rd highest weight total in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s history.

Nearly 50 volunteers removed 25,145 lbs. (12.5 tons) of trash in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s 3rd annual ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO,’ a cleanup series that focused on four areas recently impacted by natural disasters.

The group of volunteers that cleaned up Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Ala. pose with the three boats they filled up with litter.

“Averaging over 500 pounds per volunteer over four cleanups is unheard of,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB). “These communities needed dedicated volunteers to help us cleanup after natural disasters like tornadoes and floods that have been hitting the region, and our volunteers answered the call in a big way.” 

Gibi pointed out that the turnout for the April 8th Waverly, Tenn. cleanup was low because it began to snow just before the cleanup started. Nevertheless, four volunteers still came out to help the crew remove nearly 7,000 lbs. of trash.

Throughout the series, volunteers rode on KTNRB’s 26-foot work boat and five other 30-foot work boats brought in by the national nonprofit Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) to go clean shorelines. Gibi said LL&W’s assistance bolstered the efforts to maximize the cleanups’ results:

Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series Results

·        March 26  Iuka, MS @ Pickwick Lake | 4,865 lbs. removed by 17 volunteers
The area was affected by flooding in 2019 & 2021.

·       March 27  Rogersville, AL @ Wheeler Lake | 5,059 lbs. removed by 11 volunteers
The area was affected by an F-1 tornado in 2020.

·       April 8  Waverly, TN @ Kentucky Lake | 6,911 lbs. removed by 4 volunteers
The area was affected by deadly flooding in 2021.                                                 

·       April 9  Paris, TN @ Kentucky Lake | 8,310 lbs. removed by 15 volunteers
The area was affected by 2021 floods.

The four volunteers who came out to a river cleanup in snowy weather stand with one of the three trash boats they filled up in Waverly, Tenn. where the river was impacted by deadly flooding in 2021.

SERIES TOTAL: 25,145 lbs. removed

The cleanup in Paris, Tenn. made for the 3rd highest weight total for any cleanup hosted by KTNRB to date. KTNRB is following a record-breaking year in 2021 in which more than 700 volunteers removed more than 152,000 lbs. of trash at 45 cleanups. Following the Grand Slam River Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO, KTNRB is now at 58,077 lbs. removed with the help from 160 volunteers in 2022. 

“To think that 50 volunteers were able to remove 25,000 lbs. of trash shows both the power of what a few can do and the scale of the need we have around litter prevention / extraction, said Casey Shedd, President at AFTCO. “AFTCO is very thankful for KTNRB and the volunteers that show up to make a difference.”

The cleanup series was also supported by funding from Tennessee Valley Authority and TDOT’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter prevention campaign. It also took place during Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup©. Through this far-reaching annual effort, Keep America Beautiful local affiliates host cleanups in more than 20,000 communities, engaging over five million volunteers during the months of March and April. 

To see a full list of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s upcoming cleanup schedule, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups. To see AFTCO’s web site, please visit www.aftco.com.

The group of volunteers in Iuka, Miss. stand with one of the two trash boats they filled up at a cleanup focusing on an area recently affected by flooding and tornadoes.

Nonprofit to Hold 9th Flood Relief River Cleanup in Waverly since 2020 with Help from Fleet Upgrades Funded by Chemours Donations

Chemours employees celebrate one of the large piles of litter they collected at a cleanup held in January 2022 following the Waverly, Tenn. floods in 2021.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) will hold its ninth volunteer cleanup in Waverly, Tenn. this Friday, April 8, from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. in the third leg of the nonprofit’s ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO.’ 

Since October 2020, KTNRB has partnered with local groups in the Humphreys County community to host eight cleanups on the Tennessee River at the mouth of Trace Creek, where the 2021 floods ran off and a previous significant flood came through in 2019. 

In all, 65 volunteers removed 27,433 lbs. of trash at those eight cleanups. Of those cleanups, staff from the local Chemours plant participated in three cleanups designated specifically for their employees, pulling a total of 10,645 lbs. of trash.

“Chemours is one of the most active companies that we’ve worked with as far as river cleanup attendance goes, and it’s been fun to clean the river with such an enthusiastic group,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for KTNRB. “We’re grateful that Chemours has supported our work with their volunteer force and by helping us to improve our fleet with donations.”

Grey Collier and other Chemours employees cleanup litter at a cleanup held in January 2022 following the Waverly, Tenn. floods in 2021.

Earlier this year, Chemours donated $3,000 to KTNRB to purchase new tires for their Ford F-250 that hauls the river group’s 26-foot work boat. The donation will also fund an art wrap for the truck. 

Gibi said that good tread on their truck’s tires is essential since the group is frequently hauling a wet boat and trailer out of the water with thousands of pounds of trash on it. The new tires have already been installed and Gibi said that KTNRB will work on the truck’s art wrap when their cleanup schedule slows down.

Just in 2022, KTNRB has already rallied 138 volunteers to remove 40,755 lbs. of trash at 13 cleanups held in four states. In 2021, Chemours donated $2,000 to KTNRB to install a truck bed cover to keep their life vests and other equipment dry. It was in 2021 that KTNRB set its new record of 152,000 lbs. of trash removed by more than 700 volunteers. 

"Chemours is happy to have had the opportunity to support and build a relationship with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful," said Plant Manager C.J. Hilton. "Their work and dedication to cleaning up the river is an ongoing effort that benefits us all, and we look forward to continuing to partner with them in the future.”

At the cleanup on Friday that will launch from the boat ramp at Pebble Isle Marina, KTNRB will be reinforced by the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, who will bring their five additional boats to supplement KTNRB’s boat. 

There are still plenty of seats on the boats and with all of the flood debris that came from Trace Creek, volunteers are very much needed! Every volunteer will be given free work gloves, a t-shirt, and a stainless steel water bottle to take home. Life vests will also be provided during the cleanup.

Volunteers can register for the Waverly river cleanup at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/waverly. 

KTNRB is able to fund the additional boats and crew from Living Lands & Waters during the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series through grants from the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter prevention campaign.

The final cleanup in the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO will be held on Saturday, April 9, in Paris, Tenn.

For more information on upcoming cleanups with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.

Chemours volunteers point to the truck bed cover that the company's donation helped to purchase after a cleanup they did in Earth Day 2021 to cleanup of the Tennessee River at the mouth of Trace Creek where the 2019 floods had deposited tons of litter and trash.

Tennessee River Now Home to the World’s Largest Network of Electric Litter Skimmers

KTNRB AmeriCorps Member Isaac Christman shows off to the media and officials the recent collections of the newest Seabin installed on the Tennessee River and in front of the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn. at a press conference for KTNRB’s Seabin Project announced on World Water Day (3.22.22).

The Tennessee River and some of its tributaries are about to become home to the largest network of electric litter skimmer devices on any river system in the world. Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) is working with partners across the seven-state Tennessee River watershed to install 18 Seabin devices, all thanks to two large grants from the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (TDOT) and Keep America Beautiful (KAB).

KTNRB Executive Director, Kathleen Gibi, speaks at the Seabin press conference on World Water Day (3.22.22) at the site of the Seabin managed by the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Seabin device, a product out of Australia, works 24/7 to collect marine debris from the surface of the water, much like a pool skimmer that’s electrically operated. Each device can remove up to 3,000 lbs. of marine debris a year, meaning that the 18 devices installed along the Tennessee River watershed will have the potential of removing up to 54,000 lbs. a year. Even more than that, the devices will also filter out gasoline, oils, and microplastics from the water.  

Tennessee Aquarium staff clean out the Seabin device located on the Chattanooga Pier on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Until now, all of our work has only been able to prevent microplastics in our waterways, so we are thrilled to be making an effort to actually mitigate microplastics out of the water,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for KTNRB. “We’re grateful to TDOT and Keep America Beautiful for these—as I see it—revolutionary grants and to our partners who will be maintaining the Seabins to make this trailblazing project possible.”

The Seabins are currently installed and maintained primarily by marina staff in Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. KTNRB is still looking to find a home for six remaining Seabins. As part of the grant, each Seabin overseer will document the amount and types of litter collected so that the data can be analyzed. Seabins are either installed or are about to be installed at the following sites: 

-       Louisville Landing Marina | Louisville, Tenn.                                        
-       Volunteer Landing Marina | Knoxville, Tenn.
-       Tennessee Aquarium | Chattanooga, Tenn.
-       Harrison Bay State Park | Soddy Daisy, Tenn.
-       Pickwick Landing State Park | Hardin County, Tenn.
-       Paris Landing State Park | Paris, Tenn.
-       Lake Ocoee Inn & Marina | Benton, Tenn.
-       Tellico Marina | Vonore, Tenn.
-       Clifton RV & Marina | Clifton, Tenn.
-       Fontana Village Resort & Marina | Fontana, N.C.
-       Joe Wheeler State Park | Rogersville, Ala.
-       Florence Harbor Marina | Florence, Ala.

KTNRB made the announcement of the Seabin project today on World Water Day alongside representatives from TDOT, KAB, the City of Chattanooga, and the Tennessee Aquarium. 

The Aquarium is a special partner in KTNRB’s Seabin project, managing one of the 18 Seabins on the City of Chattanooga’s river walk in front of their facility. As an educational institution with a freshwater science center, the Aquarium will be integrating Seabins into educational programming and examining any litter trends discovered through the Seabin network collections.

Trash collected in the Seabin at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"Healthy communities depend upon healthy rivers, lakes, and streams," said Dr. Anna George, the Aquarium's VP of Conservation Science and Education. "The Seabins network will give us new opportunities to engage students and the public to show them how litter continuously flows from the land and into our waterways."

After the 2017 "TenneSwim" study by Dr. Andreas Fath of Furtwangen University showed that the water near the surface of the Tennessee River contains microplastic concentrations 80 times higher than those found in Germany's Rhine River, the Tennessee Aquarium set a course to better understand and combat the problem. Dr. Fath's study brought public attention to this growing threat, but left scientists asking why our river contains so much plastic.   

Collaborative efforts are underway to better understand the prevalence of microplastics in Southeastern rivers today, the types and potential sources of these plastics, and eventually learn how microplastics affect aquatic animals' health. 

The Seabin device installed at Louisville Landing Marina on the Tennessee River in Louisville, Tenn.

"We're hopeful that we can turn this tide of freshwater plastic around by collaborating with partners like TDOT, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, and others to urge the public to reduce single-use plastics, recycle the rest and join in cleanup efforts that help improve our water quality," said Dr. George. 

Of the 18 Seabin devices along the Tennessee River watershed, TDOT’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter campaign provided funding to KTNRB for 10 devices to be purchased. Nobody Trashes Tennessee has also been funding KTNRB’s volunteer litter cleanups, Adopt a River Mile program, and Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.

“TDOT’s partnership with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful demonstrates the connectedness of roadside litter to that which ends up in our waterways.” Said TDOT’s Interim Commissioner Joseph Galbato, III. “Assisting with this new network of litter removing devices is just another way that TDOT is helping to make our state cleaner and greener.”  

The other eight Seabin devices have been funded through grants from Keep America Beautiful, who first introduced KTNRB to the Seabin device. Leading up into 2020, Seabin devices had been used in Australia, Europe, and Asia for years. A Seabin distributing company known as The SEArial Cleaners based out of France approached Keep America Beautiful about introducing Seabins to the United States. The national nonprofit then selected three KAB affiliates to test a Seabin pilot project on different bodies of water: one along an inland lake (Keep Ohio Beautiful), one oceanfront site (Keep New Hanover Beautiful), and one inland river (Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful). 

After installing two Seabin devices in East Tenn. at Volunteer Landing Marina and Louisville Landing Marina, KTNRB reported success with the product. In 2021, KAB announced a nationwide grant for Seabin devices to their local KAB affiliates. KTNRB received six Seabins in the grant and then collaborated with Keep the Shoals Beautiful in Florence, Ala. who also received two Seabins through the same grant.

Cigarette butts and bottle caps are common litter items collected in Seabin devices. This photo shows collections made from the Tennessee River at Volunteer Landing Marina in Knoxville, Tenn.

“The leadership and innovation of the Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and Keep the Shoals Beautiful is truly inspirational and a model for the over 700 Keep America Beautiful Affiliates across the nation,” said Randy Hartmann, Senior Director of Keep America Beautiful. “With over 26 billion pieces of litter found along-side our nation’s waterways, it is critical to clean up this litter.

The beauty of the Seabin program is that it captures the ‘small litter’ which comprises almost nine out of ten littered items counted in the 2020 KAB Litter Study.”

In rolling out their Seabin project, KTNRB recruited partners to oversee the Seabins and then used the grant money to purchase the Seabins and have them delivered to each site. Staff at KTNRB will be compiling the litter data reported by each site manager. Gibi said the goal is to use the data to hopefully identify litter trends and sources so that new steps can be taken to stop litter flow into our waterways.

“We at Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful are very serious when we say that we’re aiming to work ourselves out of work, and coming at the litter from different angles such as litter prevention and education, physical litter cleanup, and now electric-powered filtration of our waterways will help us achieve that end game,” said Gibi. “When you look at all of the partners who came together to make our Seabin network possible, it’s obvious that we’re all determined to protect our precious Tennessee River, the most beautiful and biodiverse river in the nation.”

To learn more, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/seabin.  

March 26 Kickoff: ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series Presented by AFTCO’

Two Living Lands & Waters boats filled with trash pull in at a KTNRB cleanup held on Guntersvlile Lake in Scottsboro, Ala. in October 2021.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) will kick off the ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO,’ bringing four major cleanups held within three states. 

The cleanup campaign is sponsored by The American Fishing Tackle Company (AFTCO), an outdoor apparel and tackle company that has both sponsored the series and equipped the KTNRB staff with seasonal apparel to stay clean, dry, and comfortable at cleanups through any weather.

Each cleanup in the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series will be hosted at areas that have recently been affected by natural disasters: 

Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series Schedule

·        Saturday, March 26  10 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Iuka, MS | Pickwick Lake | Affected by flooding in 2019 & 2021

·        Sunday, March 27  1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Rogersville, AL | Wheeler Lake | Affected by an F-1 tornado in 2020

·       Friday, April 8 | 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. | Waverly, TN | Kentucky Lake | Affected by deadly flooding in 2021                                                                                

·       Saturday, April 9 | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Paris, TN | Kentucky Lake | Affected by 2021 floods

Volunteers pose with the KTNRB and LL&W boats filled with trash collected at a KTNRB cleanup held on Pickwick Lake in October 2020.

“Long after natural disasters pass through a community, the debris from the damage remains in our waterways, breaking down to cause issues for the health of our water source and the river’s ecosystem,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. “We’re grateful to AFTCO, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Dept. of Transportation, our partners, and the volunteers for making it possible to restore these parts of the river to their beautiful, natural setting.”

KTNRB is following a record-breaking year in which more than 700 volunteers removed more than 152,000 lbs. of trash at 45 cleanups. Each cleanup in the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series will be bolstered with the help of the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters (LL&W), who will bring their five 30-foot work boats to supplement KTNRB’s 26-foot work boat. In joining, LL&W will increase the volunteer capacity for each cleanup to 60, which is a number that can make a significant impact for the river.

“Clean water is critical to the health of our fisheries, and we're excited to take part in one of the many collective actions that we must all take to keep our waterways clean,” said Casey Shedd, President at AFTCO. “It's folks like the volunteers from Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful that inspired our ten percent pledge to protect and conserve, a pledge to donate ten percent of company profits to fishing conservation.” 

The cleanup series is also supported by funding from TVA and TDOT’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter prevention campaign. It’s also taking place during Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup©. Through this far-reaching annual effort, Keep America Beautiful local affiliates host cleanups in more than 20,000 communities, engaging over five million volunteers during the months of March and April. 

Volunteers are still needed for each cleanup. To sign up for any of the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series events, please visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups. To see AFTCO’s web site, please visit www.aftco.com.

Volunteers Remove 18.3 Tons (16,648 Lbs) of Trash from Four Rivers in ‘Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series’

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

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

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

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

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

CHEROKEE NATIONAL FOREST RIVER CLEANUP SERIES RESULTS

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                                                                         16,648 lbs.     47 volunteers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Volunteers cleanup trash in a cove on Watauga Lake in Carter County, TN.

130 Volunteers Pull 34,500 lbs. of Trash in October Alone, Smashing River Group’s 2021 Goal of Removing 125,000 lbs. in One Year

Volunteers at a river cleanup held on Watts Bar of the Tennessee River in Ten Mile, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021

A sum of 134 volunteers participated at six river cleanups hosted by Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB), helping to remove 34,481 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers in October. The month was declared by four governors and four mayors to be ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’

“This past month’s success is a testament to the energy buzzing around the Tennessee River watershed thanks to dozens of invested partners, hundreds of passionate volunteers, and many supporting sponsors,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “None of this would be possible without them, and more than ever, I think we’re seeing the significant impact we can make for this river when we work together!”

Volunteers at the cleanup held on Guntersville Lake of the Tennessee River.

October’s massive total helped KTNRB to blow out of the water (pun intended) their ‘125,000 lb. Goal for 2021 River Cleanups presented by YETI.’ The river group is now sitting at 147,511 lbs. of trash removed by 671 volunteers just this year, which is more than twice their previous record of 61,500 lbs. set in 2020. KTNRB was able to extend its goal of removing 100,000 lbs. to 125,000 lbs. earlier this year after receiving a sponsorship from YETI, allowing the group to host more river cleanups.

Of the 147,511 lbs. of trash removed this year, Gibi estimated that single-use drink containers such as aluminum cans, Styrofoam cups, or glass and plastic bottles comprised over 44,500 lbs. She called that number a “lowball estimate” percentage of what filled the 3,176 bags of trash removed by volunteers in 2021.
 

RIVER CLEANUPS

KTNRB set other new records and firsts with river cleanups last month. For starters, 38 volunteers removed the most trash at any cleanup held on Pickwick Lake in Iuka, Miss./Hardin County, Tenn. with 6,850 lbs. removed. 

A new record was also set for the most trash removed at one KTNRB cleanup, with 30 volunteers removing 12,489 lbs. of trash in just four hours. Much of the trash collected that day included dock floats, large Styrofoam blocks, and tires, presumably accumulated on the Kentucky Lake shores in Benton, Ky. following severe tornadoes and floods that have occurred over the last few years.

Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for KTNRB, drives the boat in front of the Nashville skyline on the Cumberland River.

The month also introduced some firsts for KTNRB, the most obvious being a cleanup held on the Cumberland River, which is out of the nonprofit’s typical area of service. A Swiss watch-making company happened to be hosting a conference for their North American offices in Nashville, heard about the river cleanup group, and asked them to host a river cleanup from the Opryland Convention Center’s nearby boat ramp so that their 40+ attendees could contribute to the community where they were convening.

Other firsts for KTNRB last month came with cleanups hosted in the cities of Ten Mile, Tenn., Scottsboro, Ala., and Benton, Ky. for the first time.

“It’s exciting to see energy building in areas where we’ve been hosting cleanups, but I’m always even more inspired when we can see people’s eyes light up when we’re hosting a cleanup in a community for the first time,” Gibi said, noting that Scottsboro, Ala.  area had four new river adoptions following their cleanup held there on Oct. 1. 

Volunteers at the cleanup on Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River.

“I love this cleanup series, because  you can really see the impact that’s possible when we’re reinforced by the energy level that the crew from a powerhouse like Living Lands & Waters brings,” Gibi said.

Four of October’s cleanups were assisted by the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters (LL&W), who brought their five 30-foot work boats to supplement KTNRB’s 26-foot boat. LL&W has been operating since 1998, removing more than 11 million lbs. of trash from North American rivers and ultimately playing a large part in KTNRB’s forming along with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB).  

“These cleanups were fun for everyone involved and I feel like this month in particular really showcased just how much KTNRB has grown,” said Dan Breidenstein of Living Lands & Waters who also serves as KTNRB Board VP. “We always enjoy working with them and it’s rewarding to see them accomplish so much. 

Throughout the month of October, KTNRB traveled to the four states touched by the main stem of the Tennessee River, which includes Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky. The cleanup series was funded by TVA, Tennessee Department of Transportation, KTnB, Yamaha Rightwaters™, and YETI. 

Of the 34,481 lbs. of trash removed at these six cleanups last month, 134 volunteers helped to remove 633 bags of trash and 111 tires, among many other items. Here’s a breakdown of each cleanup’s totals:

10.1.21            Scottsboro, AL (Guntersville Lake)       |    3,917 lbs.    |    8 volunteers
10.2.21             Ten Mile, TN (Watts Bar Lake)              |    5,584 lbs.    |    13 volunteers
10.13.21          Nashville, TN (Cumberland River)       |    4,280 lbs.    |    42 volunteers
10.15.21          Iuka, MS (Pickwick Lake)                      |    6,850 lbs.    |    38 volunteers
10.16.21          Benton, KY (Kentucky Lake)                 |    12,489 lbs.  |    30 volunteers
10.25.21          Knoxville, TN (Fort Loudoun Lake)       |     1,361  lbs.  |    3 volunteers

PROCLAMATIONS

Each year, KTNRB seeks proclamations from elected officials to declare October as ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’ This year, four governors and four mayors made proclamations, including:

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee                           Knoxville, TN Mayor Indya Kincannon
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey                             Kingston, TN Mayor Timothy Neal
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves                  Scottsboro, AL Mayor Jim McCamy
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear                  Florence, AL Mayor Andy Betterton

Mayor McCamy of Scottsboro, Ala. signs a proclamation declaring October 2021 to be ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’

RIPPLE EFFECT AWARDS

The 3rd annual Ripple Effect Awards presented by Yamaha Rightwaters™ will be presented digitally again this year due to COVID-19, and nominations to KTNRB were closed last month. River champions in three different geographic regions within the Tennessee River watershed are recognized for their river stewardship.

Traditionally, the awards are presented at a banquet held before a large river cleanup during Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month. While the highly sought-after glass-blown trophies will still be awarded, they will be presented via professionally produced virtual videos later this year. Winners will be announced before the end of the year.

A group of volunteers at the Pickwick Lake cleanup held in Iuka, Miss./Hardin County, Tenn.

After Removing 4,280 Lbs. of Trash from the Cumberland River, Oris Pledges $15,000 for the 2022 ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’

Attendees at the 2021 Oris North American Convention participated in a cleanup on the Cumberland River with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, 42 representatives from Oris, the international Swiss watch-making company, removed 4,280 lbs. of trash from the Cumberland River at a cleanup during the company’s week-long North American conference held in Nashville, Tenn.

“For working in just an hour and a half’s time, it was amazing to see the huge impact that we can make for our rivers, which serve as the starting point of water quality worldwide,” said VJ Geronimo, CEO for Oris’ North American Office and participant in the Oris river cleanup last month. 

Earlier in October, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and other elected officials declared the month to be ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’ Oris’ cleanup was one of six held in the four states touched by the Tennessee River during the month-long celebration. Traditionally in the last few years, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) volunteers have removed over 30,000 lbs. of trash from waterways through the month of October.

Oris has now pledged $15,000 to be the title sponsor for KTNRB’s ‘2022 Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’ The company will once again have a team of professionals participate in a river cleanup, this time within the Tennessee River watershed.

“This cleanup with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful was certainly eye-opening for our team, and we’re looking forward to helping this group make an even bigger impact next year,” said Geronimo.

Though the Cumberland River doesn’t fall within the typical scope of work for KTNRB, Executive Director Kathleen Gibi said they agreed to host the event after being invited by conference organizers at Oris and learning more about the company’s history of environmental efforts.

Earlier this year, Oris reached a ‘climate-neutral status,’ which means that the company has achieved net zero greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that Oris’ gas emissions put out are equal to or less than the emissions they save. The company also uses upcycled materials for its watches and its employees have participated in beach and river cleanups around the globe.

“It’s been both exciting and inspiring to partner with an international company that keeps water quality at the forefront of its work the way that Oris has for years,” said Gibi. “The group—as individual employees and as a collective team—brought an energy level and passion to the cleanup that was contagious, so we’re thrilled to move ahead in river conservation with Oris.”

Gibi pointed out that Oris’ initiating the river cleanup in Nashville already drew more partners together in the river cleanup world. The Oris participants ventured down from their conference at the Opryland Convention Center to a boat ramp adjacent to the property. There, they boarded the KTNRB work boat and boats provided by the Nashville District Army Corps of Engineers - Cheatham Lake Project to clean shorelines along the Cumberland River. VaVia of Nashville provided a full-sized roll-off dumpster for free, which was filled to the brim when the cleanup was finished.

 “This cleanup wouldn’t have been possible without the partners that pulled together, and I have to say that the Army Corps of Engineers saved the day by bringing enough boats to transport the huge turnout of Oris volunteers,” said Gibi. “Public-private sectors pulling together for this river is how we see true change for the better take place, and we’re grateful to all parties involved, especially to Oris for setting everything into motion.”

 For more information on Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

TDOT Awards Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful with $180,000 Grant for Preventative Infrastructure and River Cleanups

Earlier this month, Gov. Bill Lee declared October to officially be ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.’ In celebration, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) has hosted cleanups supported in part by a Special Litter Grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).

Volunteers pose with the ’trash boats’ filled with the 5,584 lbs. of trash that they collected at the Tennessee River cleanup held in Ten Mile, Tenn. on Oct. 2, 2021.

“The KTNRB team has been rapidly expanding their impact on litter removal from the Tennessee River watershed, having rallied over 600 volunteers to remove 135,000 lbs. of trash from our waterways just in 2021 alone,” said Mike McClanahan, Manager with TDOT’s Highway Beautification Office. “The energized partnerships, passionate volunteers, and growing litter prevention awareness around KTNRB’s work are contagious, as demonstrated in their cleanups held earlier this month.”

Cleanups were held in both Meigs County and Hardin County, Tenn. this month, where a combined 51 volunteers helped to remove a total of 12,434 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River within several hours. The totals from these two events, however, are just the beginning.

The $180,000 grant from TDOT will be used towards continued river cleanup efforts as well as new, preventative infrastructure that will be installed along the Tennessee River watershed.

“TDOT has been a part of the KTNRB story from Day 1, and is giving us just the kind of boost we need to not only sustain our existing cleanup efforts, but to address the litter crisis from the multi-layered approach that it’s going to take in order to make true change for our local waterways,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director.

The grant entails a five-part work plan:

PREVENTATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE

The Seabin device installed at Volunteer Landing Marina captures litter from the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.

A load of litter and marine debris, including a cigarette, styrofoam, and pill bottle lid, that was pulled out of the Seabin device installed at Volunteer Landing Marina in Knoxville, Tenn.

1.   Purchase of Ten New Seabin Devices
Through a grant from Keep America Beautiful in early 2021, KTNRB launched a pilot test run of two Seabin devices, which were installed at Volunteer Landing Marina and Louisville Landing Marina in the Knoxville area. The devices are essentially large electric skimmers attached to docks that work 24/7, removing up to 3,000 lbs. of trash and debris from the water in one year. Additionally, the devices filter out oils, gasoline, and microplastics from the water.

“This part of the grant is particularly exciting for us because until now, our efforts have been to preventmicroplastics,” said Gibi. “For the first time, we now have the opportunity to literally remove them from the river’s waters.”

Through the TDOT grant, ten new devices will be installed at partnering marinas on the Tennessee River and its tributaries, making it the largest network of such devices on a water system in the United States. Given that KTNRB was recently awarded another two Seabin devices from Keep America Beautiful, that’s a potential of 42,000 lbs. of trash removed annually by the Seabin devices installed within the Tennessee River system.

2.   Purchase of Storm Drain Catch Nets
The grant from TDOT will also allow for the purchase of several storm drain catch nets. These have been widely used in Australia and essentially look like a large, metal netted socks that attach to the end of a storm drain.

KTNRB staff will monitor and maintain one catch net in the Knoxville, Tenn. area and will seek out partners to maintain several other catch nets on the Tennessee River or its tributaries within the State of Tennessee.

Gibi said that the intent is to install the catch nets on drains near state-managed freeways so that the litter collected can be analyzed and reported back to TDOT. If all goes well, KTNRB will pursue installing more drains to protect the river from the source of much of the litter found in our waterways.

Experts have found that 80% of the litter in our waterways was originally littered on land, often then washed or blown by storms into our storm drain systems, streams, and ultimately rivers. Tennessee’s Nobody Trashes Tennessee litter prevention campaign estimates that there are 100 million pieces of litter on the state’s roadways at any given time.

CONTINUED RIVER CLEANUP/PROGRAM EFFORTS

Volunteers set a new record for a KTNRB cleanup on Pickwick after removing 6,850 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River at a cleanup held in Hardin County, Tenn. on October 15, 2021.

3.   Continued Support of Eight Major River Cleanups
Funds will support KTNRB to contract he national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, to bring five 30-foot work boats to supplement KTNRB’s 26-foot work boat. Cleanups will take place in:

a.    October 2021
- Meigs County, Tenn. on Watts Bar Lake [COMPLETED]
  13 volunteers removed 5,584 lbs. of trash
- Hardin County, Tenn. on Pickwick Lake [COMPLETED]
  38 volunteers removed 6,850 lbs. of trash

b.   March/April 2022
- New Johnsonville, Tenn. on Kentucky Lake 
- Paris, Tenn. on Kentucky Lake

c.    October 2022
-  Farragut/Lenoir City, Tenn. on Fort Loudoun Lake
-  Soddy Daisy/Chattanooga, Tenn. on Chickamauga Lake

A Tennessee State Park official stands with one of the KTNRB cigarette receptacles installed on Kentucky Lake.

d.   March/April 2023
- Pittsburgh/Jasper, Tenn. on Nickajack Lake
- Morristown/Bean Station, Tenn. on Cherokee Lake

4.   Supporting the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program
TDOT has already helped to fund art wraps for cigarette receptacles that KTNRB had designed to both raise water quality awareness and prevent cigarette litter. There are currently 500 cigarette receptacles installed throughout the seven-state Tennessee River watershed.

Dollywood currently has 26 receptacles installed and is the first theme park in the world to recycle every cigarette butt discarded within their park. Additionally, over 100 receptacles were recently installed at every campground and marina owned by Tennessee State Parks.

Partners at locations like marinas, campgrounds, and tourism sites install and maintain the receptacles. Rather than disposing of the cigarettes, they’re shipped to TerraCycle at no cost for the microfibers of plastic located in the cigarette filters to then be recycled into items like outdoor plastic furniture. The TDOT grant will help to support the costs of upkeeping this program for the receptacles installed in Tennessee. 

In the program’s first shipments to TerraCycle, 71,000 cigarette butts have been recycled through KTNRB’s program. Gibi estimates this program to have the potential of recycling up to 1 million cigarette butts each year.

5.   Furthering the Adopt a River Mile/Adopt a Storm Drain Programs
KTNRB offers free cleanup gear and swag for those who participate in the Adopt a River Mile or Adopt a Storm Drain programs. In 2021, river mile adoptions soared, and KTNRB now has 105 river miles adopted. For perspective, the Tennessee River is 652-miles long.

The TDOT grant will support this program by covering costs of supplies and shipping of packages for adoptions that take place within the State of Tennessee.

“This work plan represents a strategic effort that we’ve been working toward for the last couple of years, and it’s really commendable that TDOT sees the need to make such an investment the Tennessee River watershed, the original transportation system for our region,” said Gibi.

To learn more about Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org. 

River Group Reaches 100,000 lbs. of Trash Removed in 2021, Heads into October’s ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’

KTNRB supported the Cherokee Lake Users Association’s river cleanup with volunteers of Carson Newman University on the day of hitting 100,000 lbs. of trash removed from our waterways in 2021.

Over 500 volunteers have helped Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) remove more than 100,000 pounds of trash from the Tennessee River and its tributaries this year in the group’s ‘125,000 Lb. Goal for 2021 River Cleanups presented by YETI.’

“It’s been truly inspiring for us to see the volunteers and partners step up to accomplish so much together for our precious river system,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “We’re especially grateful to YETI for making such an aspirational goal possible and for showing everyone else that our rivers are worth the investment.”

Based off of weight totals KTNRB has been tallying throughout the year, Gibi estimates that throwaway drink containers make up at least 32,000 pounds from the 2,273 bags of trash that the volunteers have collected so far this year.

The river group surpassed 100,000 pounds in 2021 at a cleanup held in Talbott, Tenn. on Tuesday, Sept. 29. They reached the milestone just in time for the launch of the month-long tour of cleanups in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky in celebration of October being declared ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’ (KTNRWB Month). 

Gibi said that the celebratory month is often the ‘bread and butter’ of their trash totals and that the group is staged to easily reach their 125,000-pound goal for the year with the upcoming cleanups.

The month will also include the 3rd annual Ripple Effect Awards presented by Yamaha Rightwaters™ and proclamations from governors and mayors across the Tennessee River watershed.

Volunteers pose with their collected trash at a 2020 KTNRWB Month cleanup on Pickwick Lake partnered with Living Lands & Waters.

RIVER CLEANUPS 

KTNRB is partnering once again with Living Lands & Waters (LL&W), a national nonprofit that cleans North American rivers and who brings their five 30-foot aluminum boats, adding to KTNRB’s boat so that even more volunteers can participate. 

“Living Lands & Waters is always happy to be a part of KTNRB cleanups and we feel fortunate to help them reach their 125,000-pound goal on one of the nation’s most amazing rivers!” said Chad Pregracke, Founder of LL&W and 2013 CNN Hero of the Year.

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

Friday, Oct. 1               Scottsboro, AL | Guntersville Lake
Saturday, Oct. 2          Ten Mile, TN | Watts Bar Lake
Friday, Oct. 15             Iuka, MS/Hardin, TN | Pickwick Lake
Saturday, Oct. 16        Hardin, KY | Kentucky Lake

KTNRB will hold more cleanups with its individual boat throughout October. Volunteers may register for any cleanup atwww.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups. 

PARTNERSHIPS & PROCLAMATIONS

TDOT’s Mike McClanahan reads Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s proclamation at a ceremony held before a 2019 KTNRWB Month river cleanup.

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 2021. 

Proclamations from governors and mayors within all seven states (TN, AL, MS, KY, GA, VA, NC) of the Tennessee River watershed are pursued during the month. Last year, four governors and four mayors issued proclamations for Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month.

TVA and Keep Tennessee Beautiful (funded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation) were the founding partners who initiated the formation of KTNRB as a nonprofit that would champion support and protection for the 652-mile Tennessee River. Since forming, KTNRB has rallied more than 2,200 volunteers to remove over 275,000 pounds of trash from the Tennessee River and its tributaries.

As KTNRWB Month is celebrated in different states, Keep Tennessee Beautiful, Keep Alabama Beautiful, Keep Mississippi Beautiful, and the Land Between the Lakes have served as acting co-organizers. Local nonprofits such as other Keep America Beautiful affiliates and the Friends of Land Between the Lakes are also supporting partners.

The KTNRWB Month cleanups held in Tennessee are largely funded through Tennessee Department of Transportation and Keep Tennessee Beautiful. Additionally, TVA has funded KTNRB’s efforts since its inception and serves as a major supporter of KTNRWB Month.
 

RIPPLE EFFECT AWARDS

Coupled with the river cleanups during ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month’ will be the 3rd annual Ripple Effect Awards presented by Yamaha Rightwaters™. Judges from national-level organizations and companies have been enlisted to select from nominated outstanding champions for the Tennessee River to be recognized and awarded glass-blown trophies. 

Nominations for the awards have been extended to Friday, October 15, and may be submitted at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/awards.

For full information and links on Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/ktnrwb-month.

River Group Seeks Nominations for Prestigious Ripple Effect Awards Presented by Yamaha Rightwaters™

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) is currently seeking applications for the 3rd annual Tennessee River Ripple Effect Awards presented by Yamaha Rightwaters™. The awards will recognize winners of nine categories in three regions that touch Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina.

“Last year, we introduced our professionally-produced video award presentation, and have found telling the stories to be both enlightening and inspiring to a large audience within the seven-state Tennessee River watershed,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for KTNRB. “We’re proud to praise those who are making a difference for our river system, and we’re grateful to Yamaha Rightwaters™ for continuing this important recognition.”

The goal of the awards is to inspire new river champions in sharing success stories, thus the concept behind the ‘Ripple Effect’ title. Each award category will be presented to a recipient within the following regions:

Each award category will be presented in the following Tennessee River watershed regions:

·       West : West of I-65
·       Middle: East of I-65 and west of I-75
·       East: East of I-75

The 2020 Ripple Effect Award categories include:

·       Conservation
·       Adopt a River Mile / Storm Drain
·       Marina
·       Standout Youth
·       Business
·       Government Department / Law Enforcement Agency
·       Keep America Beautiful Affiliate
·       Elected Official
·       Beacon (ongoing leadership)

Each winner will receive a glass trophy that resembles a rippling river. The awards are sponsored by Yamaha Rightwaters™, a sustainability initiative of the international watercraft company, Yamaha.

"Yamaha Rightwaters is fighting to protect our most precious and essential natural resource – water,” said Martin Peters Yamaha Marine Division Manager, Government Relations. “It embodies all of Yamaha's conservation initiatives, and becomes a platform for many plans the company has in store to improve our water resources.

“We are proud to partner with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in their efforts to preserve and protect this amazing resource so that future generations can continue to enjoy the Tennessee River for decades to come."

The Ripple Effect Awards coincide with ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month,’ which is celebrated in October along with multi-state river cleanups and proclamations by governors and mayors within the river’s watershed.

ALL NOMINATIONS ARE DUE BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2021.

Nomination forms may be submitted at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/awards.

To view the full presentation of the 2020 Ripple Effect Awards presented by Yamaha Rightwaters™, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TV657H8o28.  

Plastic Free Month: YETI Becomes Title Sponsor of River Group’s Goal to Remove 125,000 lbs. of Trash in 2021

A group of volunteers collect litter in a cove on the Tennessee River at a cleanup held on April 9, 2021 in Rogersville, Ala.

27,272 lbs. That’s how many pounds of throwaway drink containers that Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful estimates its volunteers have removed in 2021 alone—all of which could have been spared if reusable products such as those made by YETI had been used instead.

The 26-foot Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful boat gets towed out of the water with a boatload of trash that volunteers collected at a cleanup on June 26, 2021 on the Tennessee River in Soddy Daisy, Tenn.

As Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) hits its first-time milestone of 80,000 lbs. of trash removed from the Tennessee River watershed within a year, YETI has committed $10,000 to become the title sponsor of the organization’s goal to remove 125,000 lbs. of trash in 2021.

“The litter pulled at our river cleanups is a visual call to make a change in how we as Americans consume our beverages,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “We’re so proud for our river cleanups to be lined up with our new partners at YETI, who offer instant solutions to some of the most prevalent litter we encounter.”

Originally, KTNRB’s goal was to remove 100,000 lbs. of trash in 2021, but the new support from YETI is allowing that target to be extended to 125,000 lbs. The announcement comes during ‘Plastic Free Month,’ which is celebrated in July.

Gibi estimates 70 percent of the trash bags that volunteers fill consists of throwaway drink containers, noting that as a very modest estimate. As of their most recent cleanup held on June 26, KTNRB volunteers had removed at total of 1,948 bags of trash in 2021. 

“Waste industry experts promote the practice of ‘reduce, reuse, and recycle’ in that exact order, and reusable products like those offered by YETI happen to hit the first two points of that model,” said Gibi. “It’s small changes in our daily habits that will make the difference.”

At an October 11, 2020 cleanup in Decatur, Ala: A Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful volunteer cleans a cove filled with single-use drink container litter as two turtles (in the forefront) hide in their shells.

Though the Tennessee River is renowned for its beautiful scenery and generates an estimated $12 billion annually in the recreation industry alone, a study released in 2019 by German scientist Dr. Andreas Fath found the Tennessee River to be the most microplastic-polluted river in the world studied to date.

“As a brand that was born on the water, helping to protect waterways and the wild has been an important part of YETI’s mission since 2006,” said Jennifer Silberman, Vice President of ESG at YETI. “We’re proud to support the incredibly important work that the KTNRB team is doing and hope these efforts ensure future generations can continue to appreciate and enjoy the Tennessee River for years to come.”

YETI tags itself as a global designer, retailer, and distributor of innovative outdoor products, helping its customers to eliminate unnecessary waste by designing durable, versatile, and reusable options that replace the need for single-use products. The company has committed to many efforts that help protect the natural environment its customers enjoy.

In 2016, YETI became the official partner of the Kick Plastic Guide & Outfitter Program along with Costa Del Mar and WorldCast Anglers to reduce and eliminate single serve plastic water bottles from outfitting trips and camps.

Volunteers clean shorelines of the Ocoee River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, at a cleanup held on March 1, 2021 in Benton, Tenn.

YETI is also a member of the Plastic Impact Alliance, a group of over 225 outdoor brands committed to making the industry more sustainable, one bottle, one cup at a time. Through this initiative in June 2019, YETI promised to reject single-use plastic bottles at an Outdoor Retailer convention. In the first year of the commitment, YETI served 5,631 people with 1,320 gallons of water, resulting in a conversion of more than 14,000 twelve-ounce plastic bottles saved during the 2019 Outdoor Retailer show.

Now, YETI is supporting and helping to create awareness for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s river cleanup efforts, at which volunteers remove thousands of littered, single-use plastic items from local waterways. Each year, KTNRB hosts dozens of river cleanups within the seven-state Tennessee River watershed, taking volunteers on the organization’s 26-foot aluminum work boat to clean shorelines and coves.

Hosting cleanups since 2016, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful became the first Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river. Just last month, the organization hit a lifetime milestone of 250,000 lbs. of trash removed since its formation, thanks to the help of more than 2,000 volunteers.

To learn more about Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.  

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful is a 501c3 nonprofit and is the first Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river. Its mission is to rally communities along the Tennessee River and its tributaries to preserve, improve and protect the river for generations to come. To date, 2,075 volunteers have helped the organization to remove 260,706 lbs. of trash along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its tributaries that reach into seven states.

www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org
Contact: Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director
kathleen@keeptnriverbeautiful.org
865.386.3926

About YETI Holdings, Inc. (“YETI”) (NYSE: YETI): 

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, YETI is a global designer, retailer, and distributor of innovative outdoor products. From coolers and drinkware to backpacks and bags, YETI products are built to meet the unique and varying needs of diverse outdoor pursuits, whether in the remote wilderness, at the beach, or anywhere life takes our customers. By consistently delivering high-performing, exceptional products, we have built a strong following of brand loyalists throughout the world, ranging from serious outdoor enthusiasts to individuals who simply value products of uncompromising quality and design. We have an unwavering commitment to outdoor and recreation communities, and we are relentless in our pursuit of building superior products for people to confidently enjoy life outdoors and beyond. For more information, please visit www.YETI.com.

Volunteers Remove 5,000 lbs. at the ‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend Presented by iSustain’

The group of volunteers from the cleanup on Friday, June 25, pose with one of the trash piles they made at three cleanup sites.

A total of 25 volunteers helped to remove 5,000 lbs. of trash over the weekend in Soddy Daisy, Tenn. in a two-part cleanup series that Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful hosted, called ‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend presented by iSustain.’

The cleanup held on the evening of Friday, June 25, resulted in 2,104 lbs. removed by 15 volunteers, and the cleanup held on Saturday, June 26, yielded 2,841 lbs. removed by ten volunteers. Items removed included:

Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director, gets ready to load Saturday’s trash collection onto the boat trailer so that the trash can then be tossed into a dumpster.

·       132 bags of trash
·       13 tires
·       3.5 steel drums
·       80 square feet of Styrofoam
·       12’ x 12’ fiberglass boat top
·       Computer monitor
·       215 lbs. of carpet
·       55-gallon plastic barrel
·       Two 30-gallon plastic barrels 

“This weekend was a really fun one—a true community effort with tons of energy and excitement, all spurred by iSustain’s ask to hold a cleanup here,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “It’s great to see local river champions inspiring others in their community to care for this precious river of ours.”

The cleanup series was made possible thanks to a $2,500 sponsorship from iSustain Recycling, a national sustainability services company that processes over 151 million pounds of recyclable products each year. 

Dawn Huber, owner of iSustain, and Mark Huber, Vice President, each joined both cleanups with staff from their company and even family. The couple has since adopted Tennessee River Mile 489 on Chickamauga Lake through KTNRB’s Adopt a River Mile program.

Dawn Huber, owner of iSustain and Mark Huber, VP of Business Development for iSustain, pick up litter on a shoreline of Chickamauga Lake on the Tennessee River.

“What an absolute blast making an impact on recovering trash and waste plastics from our beautiful river, said Mark Huber, Vice President of Business Development for iSustain and KTNRB Board Member. “Our goal shared with KTNRB is to inspire people of all ages to change their behavior to reduce, reuse, and recycle, which ultimately eliminates opportunity for litter.

We are so thankful to be a part of this multi-state effort to preserve our beautiful waterways for now and for future generations.”

The event series was also held in partnership with the Chickamauga Fly, Bait & Casting Club (a participant in KTNRB’s Adopt a River Mile program) and the Soddy Daisy Beautification and Improvement Project. Both partners assisted with local volunteer recruitment and participated in the cleanups.

After each cleanup, the KTNRB boat was filled up with the trash collected by volunteers and then dumped into a 40-yard roll-off dumpster provided by Priority Waste Services of Soddy Daisy. The dumpster was full by the end of the weekend series on Saturday.

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

Volunteers from the cleanup on Saturday, June 26, leave behind a trash pile at the first of four sites cleaned that day.

‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend Presented by iSustain’ to Take Place June 25-26

The KTNRB boat was filled by volunteers at a Possum Creek cleanup that took place in March 2021. iSustain sponsored the disposal of the trash collected for that cleanup.

Click the logo above to visit the iSustain web site.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) will host a two-part volunteer cleanup series called the ‘Chickamauga Lake Cleanup Weekend presented by iSustain’ next Friday, June 25, and Saturday, June 26.

The cleanup series is made possible thanks to a $2,500 sponsorship from iSustain Recycling, a national sustainability services company that processes over 151 million pounds of recyclable products each year.

“iSustain’s extensive recycling efforts are regularly saving our waterways from literally tons of potential litter each year, and supporting our river cleanups just takes their environmental stewardship to the next level,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “They’re river champions, for sure, and we’re grateful to team up with them.” 

The cleanups, held on Chickamauga Lake of the Tennessee River in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, are also held in partnership with the Chickamauga Fly, Bait & Casting Club (a participant in KTNRB’s Adopt a River Mile program) and the Soddy Daisy Beautification Project. Both partners are assisting with local volunteer recruitment for the weekend’s cleanups.

KTNRB will take up to 15 volunteers out on their 26-foot work boat each day to clean a portion of the Tennessee River near Possum Creek. When the cleanups end each day, the trash collected will be hauled out of the water and dumped into a 30-yard roll-off dumpster provided by Priority Waste of Soddy Daisy.

“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 member. “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 and nationally.” 

Volunteers must register for the event as boat seats are limited. Registration for both events can be found at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/chickamauga. 

Yamaha Pro Ish Monroe Joins Forces with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, Youth Volunteers and Yamaha Rightwaters™ to Clean Up Nickajack Lake

Nickajack Lake, Tenn. – June 2, 2021 –  Yamaha Pro Angler Ish Monroe teamed up with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) and a group of young volunteers on June 1 to clean up Nickajack Lake. Led by KTNRB Executive Director Kathleen Gibi, the group pulled 2,119 pounds of trash from the shoreline near the Shellmound Campground boat ramp in Jasper, Tennessee. 

Pro Angler Ish Monroe, KTNRB AmeriCorps Member Adam Weinzapfel, and volunteer Tyler Thornbury remove a traffic barrier from the water.

“Watching these volunteers take action to make our waterways better is incredibly inspiring,” said Monroe. “I applaud KTNRB’s ongoing efforts to not only care for and protect the beautiful 652-mile Tennessee River, but also for encouraging and teaching the next generation about the importance of environmental stewardship.”

The volunteers, ranging ages from 8 to 33, rode in KTNRB’s 26-foot aluminum work boat, which Yamaha Rightwaters and Anderson Marine helped re-power with a V MAX SHO® 90 outboard in 2020.

Ish Monroe pulling a tire from the river.

“I was honored to spend the day especially with the young volunteers who are making a difference,” said Monroe.

Joining the event was Cash “The Conservation Kid” Daniels, a two-time KTNRB Ripple Effect Award recipient and 11-year-old water quality advocate recognized for his hard work improving and protecting the Tennessee River. 

“We had a river celebrity-studded cleanup with Cash, who inspires everyone with his passion for water quality, and Ish and the Yamaha Rightwaters team, who understand the importance of acting now so that future generations can also enjoy the river,” said Kathleen Gibi, KTNRB Executive Director. “Working together, we hope to inspire residents of the river communities to take care of this natural treasure.” 

Yamaha Rightwaters began its support of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful after meetings during the 2019 Bassmaster Classic® in Knoxville, Tenn. Yamaha Rightwaters also sponsors KTNRB’s Ripple Effect Awards.

For more information about Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful or to volunteer, please visit keeptnriverbeautiful.org.

Left to right: KTNRB Executive Director Kathleen Gibi, Cash “The Conservation Kid” Daniels, and Professional Angler Ish Monroe.

Yamaha Rightwaters™ is a national sustainability program that encompasses all of Yamaha Marine’s conservation and water quality efforts. Program initiatives include habitat restoration, support for scientific research, mitigation of invasive species, the reduction of marine debris and environmental stewardship education. Yamaha Rightwaters reinforces Yamaha’s long-standing history of natural resource conservation, support of sustainable recreational fishing and water resources and Angler Code of Ethics, which requires pro anglers to adhere to principles of stewardship for all marine resources.

Yamaha Marine products are marketed throughout the United States and around the world. Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit, based in Kennesaw, Ga., supports its 2,400 U.S. dealers and boat builders with marketing, training and parts for Yamaha’s full line of products and strives to be the industry leader in reliability, technology and customer service. Yamaha Marine is the only outboard brand to have earned NMMA®’s C.S.I. Customer Satisfaction Index award every year since its inception.

Every Tennessee State Park-Owned Campground, Marina Commits to Cigarette Recycling Program, Litter Prevention

Cedars of Lebanon Park Manager Jeff Buchanon poses with one of the cigarette receptacles provided by Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in Middle Tenn.

Tennessee State Parks have taken a step to help prevent cigarette litter—and ultimately fire hazards—all while making a commitment for 32 campgrounds and three marinas to recycle the plastic from every cigarette butt collected.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful is providing Tennessee State Parks with 109 cigarette receptacles that feature art wraps with information about the consequences of cigarette litter in our waterways. The collected cigarette butts will then be shipped to a company called TerraCycle, who covers the shipping costs and recycles the plastic microfibers found in cigarette filters into new plastic items, such as outdoor furniture.

“To have 35 Tennessee State Park facilities lead in such an elaborate river stewardship effort is truly going to make an impact for the waterways in Tennessee,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB). “Littered cigarettes are surprisingly prolific and harmful for our waterways, so the state parks’ commitment is a great step in protecting the Tennessee River and its tributaries for generations to come.” 

A KTNRB receptacle installed at Norris Dam State Park in East Tenn.

In January 2019, CNN reported cigarette filters, which contain tightly compacted plastic fibers, to be the No. 1 plastic pollutant in the world. In Februay 2019, a German scientist named Dr. Andreas Fath reported a study that found the Tennessee River to have the highest levels of microplastics in any river in the world studied to date. 

Furthermore, littered cigarettes that are inevitably washed into waterways have been known to contain toxins with the potential to kill aquatic life within two gallons of surrounding water. 

In a preliminary count conducted by state park staff, the sites of these new receptacles were found to have 1,982 cigarette butts littered on the ground, just waiting to be washed into our waterways with the next rain. The hope is that, with this new infrastructure now available, visitors who smoke in state parks will properly dispose of their cigarettes.

Tennessee State Parks have marinas, boat launches, boat rentals, and guided boat tours on lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams throughout the state. More than 30 Tennessee State Parks offer camping opportunities. 

“We are pleased to join Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in such a worthy effort,” Jim Bryson, deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), said. “The river is an important natural resource for our state, and Tennessee State Parks are committed to help keep it that way.”

Ranger Aaron Schapley with a KTNRB cigarette receptacle at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park in West Tenn.

This particular project with Tennessee State Parks and the Tennessee State Parks Conservancy was largely made possible through a $10,000 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) Grant from Keep America Beautiful® (KAB). In fact, the national organization has provided KTNRB with 500 receptacles that have been installed within the seven states of the Tennessee River watershed over the last two years. The receptacles are managed by marinas, campgrounds, and other tourism facilities.

According to Keep America Beautiful, communities implementing the CLPP have consistently cut cigarette butt litter by 50 percent over the past decade. 

“The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grants empower communities to help mitigate the economic, environmental, and quality-of-life impact of cigarette littering,” said Jerred Jones, program director for Keep America Beautiful’s CLPP.

Including the art wrap, each receptacle is valued around $115. KTNRB started the art-wrapped cigarette receptacles project while working with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Tennessee Valley Clean Marina Program. 

In 2019, TVA funding as well as a special litter grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation covered the cost of the design and printing of the initial art wraps. TVA then connected KTNRB with the 200+ marinas, campgrounds, and resorts along the Tennessee River watershed. 

Two grants and two years later, KTNRB’s program has only grown since then. The grant from KAB will also fund the distribution of 90 additional receptacles for new participating sites. Marinas, campgrounds and other destinations located within the Tennessee River watershed may submit requests for the free cigarette waste receptacles at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/cigarettelitter. 

The Tennessee State Park facilities participating in the new program include:

T.O. Fuller
Pather Creek
Paris Landing
Reelfoot 
Nathan Bedford"
Fort Pillow
Big Ridge
David Crockett Birthplace
Hiwassee 
Cove Lake
Cedars of Lebanon
Bledsoe Creek
David Crockett
Tims Ford
Meeman Shelby'
Standing Stone
Norris Dam
Indian Mountain
Chickasaw
Pickwick Landing
Roan Mountain
Big Hill Pond
Warriors Path
Cumberland Mountain
Edgar Evins
Fall Creek Falls
Harrison Bay
Henry Horton
Montgomery Bell
Mousetail Landing
Natchez Trace
Old Stone Fort
Pickett
Rock Island
South Cumberland

“I knew we couldn’t pass up this opportunity based on my experience with Keep America Beautiful and Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful,” said Kelly Tipler, Executive Director of Tennessee State Parks Conservancy. “Both organization’s commitment to maintaining and preserving natural resources perfectly aligns with our mission, and we’re excited to have over 30 Tennessee State Parks participate in this program.”

For information on KTNRB’s ongoing efforts to preserve, improve and protect the river, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org. 

Producing Results: Storm Drains and Grocery Stores

WRITTEN BY: ADAM WEINZAPFEL,
KTNRB AMERICORPS MEMBER

For most of us, heading to the grocery store is a weekly routine. It’s the most essential business you visit in your day-to-day life. Did you know that your weekly stops could be an excellent opportunity to make a difference for your community? 

            Many grocery store parking lots are large, paved areas that allow stormwater to pass over quickly, picking up litter as it goes. The litter travels with the water to where the engineering of the parking lot is designed to take water: the storm drains. 

            Like the storm drains you see in your neighborhoods or on the street, the drains at your local grocery likely can pick up trash, maybe even more so due to the high traffic area of grocery store parking lots. Why not show a little support and take 10 minutes out of your shopping run to clean a drain? It’s quick and easy, and most grocery stores already have bins to dispose of any waste you collect before heading in to shop.

            If this sounds like a great opportunity to you, we’d love to help you out! If you adopt your local grocery’s storm drains at https://www.keeptnriverbeautiful.org/stormdrain, we’ll send you cleaning supplies and guidelines on how to safely clean your storm drain to get you started. This is a great opportunity to turn a weekly run into something that makes a difference.

            Litter may seem like an impossibly large task to take on, but cleaning even one storm drain can reduce not only your impact, but your entire community’s impact on our waterways as well.

Earth Day Weekend Wrap Up: Local Business Donates $2,000 for River Cleanup Work; Volunteers Remove 7,373 Lbs. of Trash from the Tennessee River

Staff from the Chemours chemical plant point to the camper top that their company’s $2,000 donation helped KTNRB to purchase after participating in a river cleanup where they removed over 3,000 lbs. of trash.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) celebrated Earth Day river cleanups with communities in Clifton, Tenn. and New Johnsonville, Tenn. where volunteers from a high school, a local chemical plant, and even vacationers removed 7,373 lbs. of trash from Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River. 

The nonprofit also showcased their new camper top for their river cleanup truck that was purchased with a $2,000 donation from the Chemours chemical plant in Humphreys County, Tenn. 

EARTH DAY WITH FRANK HUGHES HIGH SCHOOL | CLIFTON, TN

KTNRB hosted three river cleanups to celebrate Earth Day last week, kicking off with an Earth Day cleanup partnered with the Wayne County Beautification Project in Clifton, Tenn. with students from Frank Hughes High School. The students rode in KTNRB’s 26-foot work boat to Jeter Towhead Island, where a marina had been stranded after a major flood that occurred in 2019.

The students collected 2,814 lbs. of trash, including 196 square feet of Styrofoam that had been dislodged from the marina, a 500-pound tractor tire, two refrigerators, and much more.

“These impressive kids had the best attitude, showed a hard work ethic during the entire cleanup, and used teamwork to get the job done—all things that give hope for our future,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. “They made it a very special Earth Day.” 

Wayne County hauled off all of the trash removed and Clifton Marina and RV Park hosted the launch site for the event. Gibi said it was Lindsay Ross of the Wayne County Beautification Project who reached out to make this event happen and did much of the local organizing.

“These students, along with their teacher, Thomas Fish, showed enthusiasm and passion regarding keeping litter and debris out of the Tennessee River,” said Lindsay Ross, Project Manager for the Wayne County Beautification Project. “They were taught skills and knowledge that will help them become environmental stewards and we thank Kathleen and her team for making this awesome educational opportunity come to fruition for these students and for Wayne County Tennessee.” 

CHEMOURS GIVES DONATION, STAFF VOLUNTEER AT CLEANUP | NEW JOHNSONVILLE, TN

On Friday, April 23, nine volunteers from the Chemours chemical plant located on the Tennessee River helped to remove 3,161 lbs. of trash at a cleanup partnered with New Johnsonville State Historic Park. The weight pulled included 114 bags of trash, 223 lbs. of random plastic, 12 tires, and even two mannequin heads!

“This was the second cleanup that the Chemours team has participated in on Kentucky Lake, and it’s so crucial for businesses like Chemours to set such an example of river stewardship,” said Gibi.

When the cleanup was finished, the trash-filled boat was loaded onto KTNRB’s trailer and the Chemours employees posed with the boat and truck, pointing to the camper top that their company had made possible through a $2,000 donation.

Gibi said that the camper top provides essentially a mobile office and storage space that makes their river cleanups even more effective.

"We are thankful for the opportunity to help make the riverbanks and Kentucky Lake a cleaner place for everyone to enjoy," said Chemours Johnsonville Plant Manager Clement Hilton. "Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful provides a great resource to people and organizations all along the Tennessee River, and Chemours is happy to help make their mobile efforts more productive with the donation for a camper top.”

CLEANUP WITH VACATIONERS, RETIRED COUNTY COMMISSIONER |
NEW JOHNSONVILLE, TN

The weekend wrapped up on a rainy Saturday, April 24, held once again in collaboration with New Johnsonville State Historic Park. Even through the rains, three women who were vacationing on a girls trip weekend, and an 82 year old retired County Commissioner, came out to clean shorelines on Kentucky Lake of the Tennessee River.

The cleanup was cut short, but not before the volunteers removed 1,398 lbs., including 39 bags of trash, three tires, a kids’ kitchenette set, a boat seat, a big wheel, and more.

“It’s always inspiring to see volunteers come out to clean our river, but to come out in the rain while on vacation or at 82 years old takes it to another level!” Gibi said. “There’s hope for our waterways because of people like them.”

Both cleanups in New Johnsonville were launched from Pebble Isle Marina and Humphreys County Sanitation donated a roll-off dumpster service to haul away all of the trash collected. 

“Johnsonville State Historic Park’s mission is to Preserve, Protect and Share the stories of Johnsonville, Tenn.,” said Ranger Sinz. “Caring for this area of the Tennessee River is important for the preservation and protection of the natural resources within the park, as well as Humphreys County, and we are so grateful for the dedicated community volunteers and local partners such as Chemours for their efforts to help improve our local environment.”

This weekend marked the sixth cleanup that KTNRB has hosted in collaboration with Johnsonville State Historic Park the first one held in October 2020. To date, volunteers have removed 18,578 lbs. of trash from the area in those six cleanups. Gibi said they’ve been able to remove so much from one area because of passionate local partners from the region, particularly the rangers at the state park.

“Ranger Noah Sinz in particular has simply been a make-it-happen kind of partner and without his help, these cleanups wouldn’t have come close to being so successful,” said Gibi. “We’re always on the lookout for more river champions like him throughout the Tennessee River watershed because they’re true changemakers.”

To learn more about KTNRB or register for a cleanup, visit www.KeepTNRIverBeautiful.org.

22,172 Lbs. of Trash Removed in Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series

Volunteers remove trash from one of three coves they cleaned on Wheeler Lake of the Tennessee River in Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, AL.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series’ wrapped up this past weekend with an additional 6,460 lbs. of trash removed at two North Alabama cleanups.

On Friday, April 9, a total of eight volunteers on Wheeler Lake removed 3,345 lbs. of trash in Joe Wheeler State Park and nine volunteers removed 3,115 lbs. in Muscle Shoals, AL on Saturday, April 10, from Wilson Lake.

Despite having to relocate a cleanup last minute to Wheeler Lake due to flood conditions on the intended Pickwick Lake, the numbers were still quite impressive. The volunteers at the two cleanups in Alabama removed: 

Volunteers on Fort Loudoun Lake in Knoxville, Tenn. stand with a port-a-john they removed from shallow waters.

·       218 bags of trash
·       19 tires
·       43 feet of barge line
·       369 lbs. of random plastic
·       48 square feet of Styrofoam
·       10 lbs. of scrap metal
·       4.5 55-gallon barrels
·       6 trash cans
·       2 toilet seats
·       1 mini fridge
·       1 television set

“These two cleanups both suffered location and scheduling adjustments due to weather, but the results are a testament to what can be accomplished when volunteers are committed to making their community a better place,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. “By working with us through the challenges, our volunteers and our partners at Living Lands & Waters made a three ton difference for the Tennessee River, which is something to be really proud of.”

Gibi said that the City of Florence, Lauderdale County, and Joe Wheeler State Park all stepped up to roll with the last-minute changes needed to work around storms at each site, each offering local sponsorships and services for the cleanup to be possible.

In all, the trash removed by 75 volunteers in the Grand Slam Cleanup Series totaled at over 11 tons: 

2021 GRAND SLAM CLEANUP SERIES TOTALS

March 20          Roane County, TN                   Watts Bar Lake                          9,426 lbs. removed
March 21          Knoxville/Louisville, TN          Fort Loudoun Lake                  6,286 lbs. removed
April 9              Rogersville, AL                          Wheeler Lake                            3,345 lbs. removed
April 10            The Shoals, AL                           Wilson Lake                               3,115 lbs. removed
                                                                                                                         22,172 lbs. removed

Volunteers in The Shoals, AL post with one of their trash piles collected on Wilson Lake of the Tennessee River.

This cleanup series now puts Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) more than half-way in their ambitious goal of removing 100,000 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed this year. To date, more than 200 volunteers have removed 56,698 lbs. of trash at KTNRB cleanups in 2021.

The Grand Slam Cleanup Series has become an annual tradition for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, hosting cleanups in partnership with national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters (LL&W), who brings five 30-foot work boats to supplement KTNRB’s boat. The series cleanups are held on four different lakes of the Tennessee River.

“The cleanup weekend just held in Alabama was filled with sunshine, laughter, and a lot of trash!” said Dan Breidenstein of Living Lands & Waters, who also serves as Board Vice President for KTNRB. “It was awesome to meet and work alongside all the hardworking volunteers that came out to make such a positive impact on their community and the river.”

The cleanup series has national, state, and regional sponsors to make the cleanups possible. Series sponsors include the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (TDOT), Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB), and Keep America Beautiful (KAB). Representatives from each sponsor group attended at least one event in the Grand Slam Cleanup Series themselves.

This Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup is part of a nationwide effort known as the Great American Cleanup®, a signature program of national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful®. Through this far-reaching effort, which takes place from March 20 through June 20, the Keep America Beautiful national network of nearly 700 community-based affiliates host over 15,000 events and activities, engaging more than 500,000 volunteers and participants.

 “The Grand Slam Cleanup Series is a glimpse at the momentum and energy building around this river,” said Gibi. “With big and small efforts, we can make a huge, collective impact for our precious Tennessee River, as demonstrated by our volunteers over the past month.”

To learn about upcoming Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful cleanups, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

Volunteers on Watts Bar Lake in Roane County, Tenn. stand with one of the many trash piles they collected.