Rivers Alive Awards Cartersville, Bartow County Cleanup Volunteers

Cartersville and Bartow County volunteers were recognized in April when stream cleanup organizers from across the state met in Atlanta to celebrate the accomplishments of the state’s largest volunteer cleanup program, Rivers Alive. 

Cartersville High School's Beta Club won Rivers Alive's Georgia School award and Bartow County's 4-H won its 4-H award.

The awards honor the efforts of individuals and groups who are working to improve Georgia’s waterways, one trash bag at a time. Volunteers wade into rivers, lakes and coastal waters each fall as part of the continuing statewide campaign to clean and preserve more than 70,000 miles of Georgia waterways. 

Rivers Alive's awards ceremony recognized groups of volunteers, as well as individuals and businesses for leadership. 

During the 2012 Cleanup, more than 29,000 volunteers cleaned more than 2,100 miles of waterways and removed more than 720,000 pounds of trash, including refrigerators, couches, sinks, bicycles, microwaves, tires and grocery carts. Georgia Environmental Protection Division coordinates the Rivers Alive Waterway Cleanup Program. 

“Rivers Alive is an exceptional volunteer effort that connects motivated citizens with government and private companies to make a measureable impact on improving the waterways around our state," EPD Director Jud Turner said in a release. "The increased awareness that comes from cleaning one’s local waterway encourages citizens to make environmentally friendly decision throughout their daily life.

2012 Rivers Alive sponsors include Georgia Power Company, Coca Cola Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Golder Associates, Perdue Farms, Inc., Hunton & Williams, McKenna Long & Aldridge, Sutherland, NewFields, Enterprise Holdings Foundation, Jones Day, Alston & Bird, AMEC, GE Energy, Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell, Burr & Forman, Dalton Utilities, Environmental Planning Specialist, Inc., Georgia Chamber of Commerce, MEAG Power, Trinity Consultants, David Brown, Environ International Corporation, The Ocean Conservancy, and Kroger. The generous funding provided by these sponsors allowed Rivers Alive to produce and distribute T-shirts and banners to the volunteers, as well as cleanup materials such as trash bags and data collection forms to the event organizers.