The Hammond River Angling Association (HRAA) is a non-profit environmental organization, whose mandate is to protect and preserve the Hammond River watershed through education, conservation, and community interaction. The mandate is achieved in part through the Riverside Clean and Green Event!
With the help of the Encorp Recycling Hero Community Cleanup Grant, the HRAA was able to host a fantastic volunteer-led cleanup day on May 26th throughout the Hammond River watershed. It was a very warm, sunny day- a perfect day to tour the watershed while cleaning it up!
All told, 21 volunteers joined in, including the 1st Kennebecasis Valley BPSA Scouts Group. Some of these volunteers were new to the province, and had never seen much of the Hammond River watershed, so this was a great opportunity to meet new people, see more of the river, and to instill a passion for keeping their new surroundings clean and free of litter! While most of the volunteers were on foot, there was one woman who did a solo kayak clean up trip. She was thrilled to see many fish in the water during her clean up stops along the way!
Through working together, the volunteers were able to target 5 popular areas within the watershed for cleanup. In total, 5 bags of recyclables, 8 large bags of debris (mostly cups, plastic, and face masks), 2 old car door panels, broken chairs, over 2 boxes of broken glass, 2 discarded signs, 2 destroyed, large road pylons, 1 broken cell phone and 1 large slide were removed.
Once the cleanup was complete, the volunteers returned to the HRAA Conservation Center for some well-deserved food and drinks! It was a feast fit for recycling kings and queens! This was a great opportunity to connect with new friends and create a greater sense of community working together to protect the river.
A job well done all around!
