Registration Underway for Connecticut River Cleanup Event

The Connecticut River Watershed Council is now registering volunteers interested in taking part of Connecticut river cleanup spanning four states.

The CRWC's 17th Annual Source to Sea Cleanup will be happening on Oct. 4 and 5.

This is an annual trash cleanup of the Connecticut River system — rivers, streams and banks, parks, boat launches, trails and more.

Each fall, thousands of volunteers of all ages and abilities head out to places of their choice all along the four-state watershed (New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut) to clean the Connecticut River and its tributaries on foot or by boat.

In 2012, over 2,000 volunteers pulled over 99 tons of trash from over 91 miles of river banks and waterways. Volunteers use human power and sometimes heavy equipment to pull out everything from recyclables, fishing equipment and food waste to tires, televisions and refrigerators. Read about the 2012 event in the Cleanup Chronicle (PDF .5MB), including the list of groups that participated and the tally of all trash pulled from the river.

"The water is cleaner, river banks are safer and the wildlife are happier thanks to the generous efforts of the sponsors, businesses, watershed organizations, Girl and Boy Scout Troops, school groups, municipalities, and community members who make the event possible," CRWC said in a news release.

If you are interested in taking part in this effort, you can register here to join a group. Or, you can form a group by clicking here.