2021 Cleanup Summary
For the last several years we've partnered with the South Carolina Aquarium to track all the trash we collect at our cleanups through their Litter-Free Digital Journal app. In 2021 we conducted 14 river and stream cleanups, and with the help of more than 150 volunteers we picked up and recorded 11,128 pieces of trash and debris. The data we collect at our cleanups is important not just to identify litter trends and trash hotspots, but also to help educate the public and shape public policy.
Here is a brief analysis of our river and stream cleanup data from 2021.
Styrofoam was by far the most common item we picked up, making up 18.6% of the total number of items we recorded. Plastic bottles, plastic bags, miscellaneous plastic, and aluminum beverage cans made up the rest of the top five most common items.
When we look at the overall categories of trash, plastic makes up two thirds of every item we picked up and recorded. If it wasn't already clear from the chart below, our trash problem is primarily a plastic problem.
If you want to learn more about the plastic pollution problem impacting South Carolina's waterways, check out this documentary featuring Congaree Riverkeeper and our partners at Charleston Waterkeeper and the South Carolina Aquarium that recently aired on SCETV: Macroplastics in SC Waters: Connecting the Midlands to the Coast.
In addition to lots of plastic, we also picked up some pretty odd items, including several creepy toys (including a dismembered doll head, a trashy my little pony, and a weird Christmas pickle), a pair of foam mattress toppers that were a pain to drag out of the water, an ironically discarded adopt-a-street sign, and almost enough car parts and tires to build a new vehicle.
You can sign up to receive notifications about upcoming cleanups with Congaree Riverkeeper here.
And finally, THANK YOU SO MUCH to the dedicated volunteers who came out and helped clean up our rivers and streams! You made a real impact, and we've got the data to prove it.
