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Project A.W.A.R.E a Working Vacation

Everyday there are amazing things done by ordinary people.  People who do not seek glory or fame, only the satisfaction of having done something that makes them feel they've contributed to making a difference to help our environment. I recently spent the day with one such group floating down the Nishnabotna River in SW Iowa picking up trash ranging from small debris paper to cast out farm equipment.

Project A.W.A.R.E. (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition) just completed their 8th annual river clean up as hundreds of volunteers joined the Iowa DNR sponsored event for a week of water, mud & trash as they traversed over 100 miles down the Nishnabotna River picking up everything they could load into their canoes and kayaks along the way.

We joined the group at their campsite near Red Oak where everyone was packing up their tents and brushing their teeth after have had breakfast which included a table top canoe with paddler carved out of a watermelon.  This was day 6 for most volunteers and I would be joining them for a sweep of 16.7 miles of riverbank.

After morning announcements new recruits were asked to step up and give their names and where they were from. There was a warm welcome, that was followed by the loading of several busses that departed to the drop point to begin the float trip.

The trip was broken into two parts to include a halfway point where volunteers would have their collected trash dropped off and there were refreshments provided to cope with the near 90 degree temperatures. 

Drop off items ranged from basic debris type trash to items such as 55 gallon drums, tires and old refrigerators. Some of these items required hours of work to dig out from the river bank as volunteers got into the river knee deep in mud and chest deep into water. What amazed me the most was the effort everyone put in to truly make a difference to clean up this waterway.

At the final checkpoint the last of the trash was off-loaded from the canoes and volunteers were shuttled off the the new camp spot for that evening. On this particular night, there were no shower facilities available, only a water hose which made for a make shift wash down to get the mud and days sweat washed off.

Each evening the volunteers are fed and then participate in a program sponsored at each camp spot.  Friday night's program "Fire up Friday" and "Riverse" is the artistic element of A.W.A.R.E.. Ogden artist David Williamson joined the volunteers, guitar in hand, for a collaboration of lyrics and "recycled" words to create a song about the week's hard work.

Then volunteers joined David as he fired up his melting pot and let them begin the meltdown of aluminum trash collected during the trip to be used in artwork as he recycles items taken from the river into various artwork pieces.

Most notably David, with help from volunteers during the Iowa State Fair, is building the new gates at the DNR Building located at the fair.  The first of five is currently installed and the second should be installed before this year's fair.  So if you get the opportunity please get by and check out this wonderful art created from river trash collected by hundreds of volunteers during Project A.W.A.R.E..

For more information about Project A.W.A.R.E go to www.iowaprojectaware.com.

Until next time, get out and enjoy the outdoors, right here In Your Backyard Iowa.

 

rob@backyardiowa.com

Rob Welch

Host – In Your Backyard Iowa