We had a hugely successful trash removal party! A total of 339 volunteers signed up! These stewards of the creek pulled out 147 bags of trash, 47 bags of recycling and a plethora of bizarre objects: a fire extinguisher; chef’s knife; broken camping chair; 12 foot length of steel pipe; wooden ladder; sleeping bags; 2 badly decomposed mattresses; crutches; a ski pole, and a man’s silver ring. All told we pulled 3,800 pounds of trash from the creek!

Thanks to Ryan Green, April Idlett, Dwayne Holcomb, Carin Peterson, John Nelson, Dennis Wortman and Chelsea McMellen for helping manage the event. The event would not happen without their help. Thanks also to Charlie Jamison for tackling the deeper waters!

Michele Hallahan
Environmental Operations
Environmental Health and Safety
The University of Texas at Austin