3. Geting Our Hands Dirty For a Good Cause

The First Phase

The International Coastal Cleanup Data Chart

We needed to make a list of what type of garbage was found on the river. For this we used the data chart that the "The Ocean Conservancy" uses for the " Annual International Coastal Cleanup" to make the list of everything we found. This list is used in general for oceans, lakes, rivers and any type of bodies of water to identify what type of trash is collected. This data sheet is very important because it is the list commonly use in the world for the International Coastal Cleanup. This one classifies garbage in to six main human activities, helping you identify what kind of man activity produces the garbage. That can help us investigate who might be responsible for throwing garbage into the river.
Here you can download the data sheet on pdf format that was downloaded free from the Alabama Mississippi Sea Grant web page: http://www.masgc.org or directly on: http://www.masgc.org/pdf/cleanup/Data%20Card%20%28English%29.pdf

File Type: Adobe Acrobat File: 112 K

We needed help...AND WE GOT IT!

The whole process of doing a river cleanup is quite a task that we couldn't do by ourselves. So we decided to ask for the help of students from our school. We called them "The River Watcher Squad" and gladly they all pitched in to give us a hand. Or should we say 60!! Take a look at this funny video, because that what friends are for!

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The River Watchers Squad

This is a group of friends that helped us during the cleanup and we teach them on how to use the Ocean Conservancy Data Collection Chart. Thanks to all of them who became part of the River Watchers.

3,2,1. Time to get dirty!!!

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All the trash we gathered from the river thanks to the help of The River Watchers Squad.		This was all he trash we gather from the river that day and had to pull uphill to the side of the road to be picked up later.		The River Watchers Squad helping us getting the trash out of the river.

What was the strangest thing you found?

We surelly found odd things during our river cleanup, but we want to know what was the stangest thing your cleaning group found.

• The strangest thing was that my group found one three hoses
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• The strangest thing I found was a pool.
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

• The strangest thing I found was a baby car and truck part
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

• i don't find it because i'm was in a area that was covered with packages of food but I was surprised when the other guys find a toilet in the middle of the river.
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

• The strangest thing I found was a car muffler.
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

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How did you feel after getting all dirty?

We want to know your opinion after being part of the river clean up. Tell us how was your experience.

• I felt good and proud of the work we do all in group.
  Apr. 07, 2011

   
  
  

• I felt rather proud to be part of this cleanse because I am being the example of those people who throw garbage into the river
  
  Apr. 07, 2011

   
  
  

• 
  my experience to clean the river was a bit frustrating because once you start cleaning could not finish. But I like to help the environment.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• Everything finished this way well that not tape-worm motives for feeling badly. And I believe that thanks to this project we can do that some of the causers of the problem react and stop throwing garbage to the river.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• I feel good because it was a fun experience in Work Related at EAM and know what the beginner river polluter.
  
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

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Who is the main comtaminant now?

We want to know who do you think is the main pollutant now that you have cleanup the river yourself and saw all the trash that was there.

• I believe that both students and people living near the river are responsible for the pollution in river.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• after realizing the work i find out that the main contaminant was the resident beacuse they throw things of the house like television, cloth, bbq etc
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• After cleaning up the river I find out that the main contaminant was the rsidents who live by the river.Because they throw a baby cart,toilet even CD's and many other stuff.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• After realizing the work we can say that the residents near to the river have the fault since the things that they found were mainly articles of house.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• The main pollutants are neighbors and they are near the river and all the household waste thrown in the river and also meet each household things.
  
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

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Why throw it to our water resourses?

We want to know why do you think people throw their solid and organic waste to our different water resourses(lakes, the sea, rivers,etc.)

• People throw their waste into bodies of water because they believe that nothing happens to throw.
  
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• the people are throw things in the river beacuse they are lazy to throw it to de trash and contaminated the river.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• The people are throw things at the river because they think is a easier way than going to a trash disposer.They do that because they are lazy...Because they know the concequences of contaminating.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• I think that the persons make this alone for taste or for not spending the work of going to a place where his waste could be recycled or rejected in a correct way and simply they it throw at a nearby place that nobody sees, our river.
  Apr. 06, 2011

   
  
  

• because they are unaware that people do not understand that cause or that cause pollution to the river and q beings inhabit it.
  
  Apr. 05, 2011

   
  
  

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International Coastal Cleanup Handbook

This is handbook designed by the "Ocean Conservancy" that you can use if you want to coordinate a cleanup in your community. It provides step by step instructions and ideas on how to plan the cleanup. It's free to download from the Ocean Conservancy webpage http://act.oceanconservancy.org/site/DocServer/ICC_Handbook.pdf?docID=5381

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