THE STREAMER NEWSLETTER

Streamer: Summer 2000

Roughly 800 volunteers from communities, universities, and companies along the Charles River participated in the largest river cleanup ever on Saturday morning, April 15th. Organized by CRWA and Massachusetts Community Water Watch, the unprecedented event involved over a dozen clean-up sites along 67 river miles from Boston to Bellingham.

A formal kick-off was held at 9:30 am near the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston. Boston and Cambridge volunteers gathered there for a brief rally before disbursing to five sites on the Charles River Basin. Offering encouragement were speakers Robert Durand, secretary, Executive Office of Environmental Affairs; State Senator Steven Tolman of Watertown; State Representative Jared Barrios of Cambridge; and Robert L. Zimmerman, CRWA's executive director.

"We are very excited that this unique event attracted widespread support from so many diverse constituencies connected by the Charles," remarked Zimmerman. "Their involvement made an obvious difference on the river and broadcast the message that keeping the Charles clean is everyone's responsibility."

Students from 15 area colleges and universities, boathouse groups, neighborhood associations, scouts, company employees and civic activists picked up trash from the riverbanks. In addition, motorboats from Community Rowing in Brighton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and Cygnet Boat Club in Newton gathered floating debris. Metropolitan District Commission provided trash bags and other supplies, as well as picked up the bundled rubbish after the event.

All volunteers received t-shirts designed by Massachusetts College of Art students. Financial support and volunteers were provided by Boston College, Boston University, the Clean Charles Coalition, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Royal Sonesta Hotel, and University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Volunteers also worked at locations in Charlestown, Brookline, Brighton, Watertown, Waltham, Weston, Newton, Wellesley, Needham, S. Natick, Medway, and Bellingham. Coordinating some cleanup sites were Senator Tolman's office, the Clean Charles Coalition, the Charles River Norumbega to Nonantum Stream Team and the Cutler Park to Commonwealth Ave. Protection Group.

Massachusetts Community Water Watch, an Americorps program now in its second year, is funded by the MASSPIRG Education Fund and Mass. Service Alliance. Its main objective is to protect and improve water quality in state waterways through stream monitoring, education, and river cleanups. The statewide program is active at 15 university locations.