Thames River Clean Up returns! (UTRCA weekly, April 14, 2022)
After a two-year break due to COVID-19, the Thames River Clean Up is set to resume for 2022! Everyone is encouraged to join in on Saturday, April 23 to clean up along streams and rivers throughout the Thames watershed.
Todd Sleeper, Coordinator of the Thames River Clean Up, says, “The Friends of the Thames invite everyone to participate in the 2022 Thames River Clean Up! We need volunteers and coordinators more than ever. Garbage, plastic, masks, and gloves have washed into our waterways and these things are harmful to fish, wildlife, and water quality.”
Please visit Thames River Clean Up for more information and to sign up.
Volunteers are required throughout the watershed. Coordinators are very much needed in: Embro, Tavistock, Innerkip, Fullarton, Avonton, Muncey, Middlemiss, Wardsville, and Louisville. New participants are welcome and students can earn community service hours! Gloves and garbage bags will be provided.
Participants can enter a draw to win a new canoe donated by Nova Craft Canoe, or a pair of Muskoka chairs donated by C.R. Plastics of Stratford! These chairs are made from 100% recycled plastic, reflecting the most common material that volunteers find.
2022 marks the 21st year that Todd Sleeper has organized the Thames River Clean Up. Todd launched the community effort in 2000 when the Thames was designated as a Canadian Heritage River. Since that time, Todd has organized thousands of people up and down the Thames for an annual spring clean up around Earth Day. In 2019, Todd received the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA)’s Community Conservation Award for his years of dedication to improving the health of the Thames River.