Earth Day Cleanup with the Charles River Conservancy

“What a beautiful day in Boston for a river cleanup!” -No one Thank you to Rob and Jim for joining me for the Charles River cleanup today. It was certainly a drencher, but despite that were able to remove a substantial amount of garbage from the waterfront. I had three big buckets full of discarded nips, food wrappers, styrofoam, glass bottles, balloons, and all kinds of plastics. I even found a washed up novel (likely by a washed up author ;-P). Rob and Jim both filled big bags of trash, too. The rain, of course, ended right as our work did, but the swissbakers donuts that the CRC provided made up for any discomfort. For anyone not able to join us today, I would encourage you to carve out some time to do a cleanup in your area of any rivers, ponds, or parks that may need it. At the end of the day I felt very accomplished with our work. And wet, but mostly accomplished.

GayOutdoors will join the Charles River Conservancy (CRC) for their 26th annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup.   CRC carves out two days every spring to clean up the land that borders the Charles Rivers before the spring vegetation becomes too thick to do so.   This is part of a national effort called the American Rivers’ National River Cleanup, which has removed over 25 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways.

GayOutdoors will be removing trash at Magazine Beach in Cambridge on Saturday, 4/26, from 10am-12pm.   The address is 668 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, but parking is very limited.  Please take public transportation or carpool if possible.  If anyone is coming from the Route 2 area, I'm happy to pick you up on my way in.  Breakfast is being offered (coffee, pastries) from 9am-9:45am if you want to arrive a little early.  You can read more about the event here:  https://thecharles.org/volunteer/earthday/

All volunteers must complete a waiver before your cleanup event.  Please this here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMhLcOh1tGkwKFt6B2sTRpoxUkqat1OBwhp5GLUYFRrS34Aw/viewform?usp=header

What to Bring: Help Us Reduce Single-Use Plastic!

The CRC will have gloves (both cloth and nitrile), trash bags, and a limited number of trash grabbers. If volunteers prefer to bring and use their own tools from home, it might be a good idea to bring:

• garden gloves
• trash grabber
• bucket (e.g. 1-gallon bucket)- You can collect litter in the bucket and then add it to a trash bag when full.

Please also bring water and sun protection. If you have any questions, please let me know!

The Charles River Conservancy supports year-round engagement and stewardship of this urban environment.  Whether you plan to join us that day or not, if you are interested in donating towards their mission, you can do so here: https://give.donationpay.org/charlesriverconservancy/donations/