Tucker Civic Association Wins Environmental Award

Volunteers and stream cleanup organizers from across the state met this week to celebrate the accomplishments of the state’s largest volunteer cleanup program, Rivers Alive, and the was one of the honorees.

The TCA has organized around the Tucker area, spearheaded by Pam McNall and Beth White. McNall writes a regular column for Patch called in which she addresses many local environmental issues.

The Rivers Alive 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.  

The Rivers Alive awards ceremony recognized groups of volunteers, as well as individuals and businesses for leadership. It was held on Wednesday, April 18, at the Roswell River Landing in Roswell.

During the 2011 Cleanup, 29,000 volunteers cleaned more than 1,700 miles of waterways and removed more than 700,000 pounds of trash, including refrigerators, couches, sinks, bicycles, microwaves, tires and shingles. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) along with Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation jointly host the Rivers Alive Waterway Cleanup Program.  

“Rivers Alive is a perfect example of the environmental good that can come from partnerships between government, private entities and the citizens of Georgia. Together we really can make a difference protecting our waterways and watersheds,” said EPD Director Jud Turner.

The awards and their winners are as follows:
 
Organizer of the Year - 2011 Help the Hooch
Adopt-A-Stream - City of Gainesville AAS Program
Georgia Club - Georgia Kayaker
Confluence - Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful
Government Partner - Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful
Keep Georgia Beautiful - Keep Decatur County Beautiful
Nonprofit Organization - Tucker Civic Association
Georgia School - Druid Hills Middle School
Spark of Energy - Georgia Power Co. Plant McManus
Boy Scout - Keep Walton Beautiful & Northeast GA Boy Scouts
Girl Scout - Madison Co. Girl Scouts
4-H - Chattooga Co. 4-H
Business Organization - Family of Companies and Friends

The 2011 Rivers Alive Sponsors Include: Georgia Power, Coca Cola Company, , Hunton & Williams, Sutherland, McKenna Long & Aldridge, Alston & Bird, The Ocean Conservancy, AMEC, Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell, Craig Elementary, Dalton Utilities, Enterprise Rental, Environmental Planning Specialist, Inc., Golder Associates, Graham Holden, Jones Day, Kroger and MEAG Power. 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 like trash bags and data collection forms to the event organizers.    

From a press release by Rivers Alive

About Rivers Alive
Rivers Alive targets cleanups across all waterways in the State of Georgia including rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. The mission of Rivers Alive is to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources. To volunteer or participate in a local cleanup effort or to obtain more information about the statewide campaign, call 404-675-6240 or go here.