We did it! Rock Creek is 100%, totally, entirely clean!
Happy Easter everyone! We are so happy that Spring is finally here. Typically for Rock Creek Conservancy, this means that we gear up for our flagship volunteer event — our Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup! If you follow Rock Creek Conservancy at all, you have definitely heard about the Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup. Maybe you’ve even joined us out in the field to help get your hands dirty. But for those who have not, here is the 411. The Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup is our largest volunteer event of the year. We have hosted this cleanup event every year for the past nine years and have collected thousands upon thousands of bags of trash and recycling and removed them from Rock Creek and the surrounding Parkland. It’s a great way to give back to your local natural areas and to help keep Rock Creek as clean and healthy as possible.
Rock Creek? More like “Clean Creek.”
Well, today we have some big news! All of our efforts have finally paid off. We can now confidently say that Rock Creek is, totally, entirely, 100% clean! No more bottles, no more bags, no more mattresses or toilets. No more straws, or silverware, or food wrappers, or huge pieces of construction wood. No more clothing, or newspaper or those Styrofoam packing peanuts that disintegrate into a million tiny pieces and get everywhere. THERE IS NO MORE TRASH! And it is all thanks to you! We couldn’t have done it without you.
Above: The area around Boundary Bridge in Rock Creek Park. It’s naturally sparkling because of how very, very clean it is now.
What do we do now!?
Unfortunately, this means that we won’t be cleaning up trash on 4/14 in Rock Creek Park. But fear not if you have already signed up for an Extreme Cleanup event! All Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup events will now offer alternate programming for the whole family.
Events and activities will include:
• Cloud Watching — Did you know Cirrocumulus Clouds are sometimes called “Popcorn Clouds” because — you guessed it — the clouds look like popcorn. Mmmmm, sounds good!
• Tree Counting — Estimates say that Rock Creek Park in DC has a 90% tree canopy cover…shouldn’t we know exactly how many trees that is?!
• Bubble Blowing — All sites will be equipped with bubbles! Who doesn’t love bubbles?
Once again we need to thank all of our excellent volunteers who helped us achieve this goal. Nine years ago a fully clean Rock Creek was just a pipedream! Now we can truly say we have done our job!
