Renew Our Rivers, the Southeast’s largest river cleanup campaign, has passed the 10 million mark in pounds of trash and debris collected from Alabama and Southeast rivers.

Matt Bowden, Alabama Power vice president of Environmental Affairs, announced the achievement at a luncheon today in Gadsden.  "We are excited that Renew Our Rivers has reached this significant milestone and hope that attention to this program helps reduce the amount of trash thrown out in our rivers and streams in the future."

Renew Our Rivers began with a volunteer cleanup in Gadsden on the Coosa River in 1999. Since then, cleanups have expanded across Alabama and into Georgia, Mississippi and the Florida panhandle with the help of more than 10,000 volunteers.  The campaign has received awards from Keep America Beautiful, the Alabama Wildlife Federation and the National Hydropower Association, among others.
“For 10 years, Renew Our Rivers has been supported by communities and volunteers across our state,” said Bowden.  “Reaching the 10 million pound mark is a great achievement, and we look forward to our continued partnerships with community volunteers.”

Doug Powell, Renew Our Rivers coordinator since the project began, said volunteers reached the 10 million pound mark during cleanups April 13-17.  “We only needed 38.7 tons to reach 10 million pounds. The first five spring cleanups this year – at Lakes Eufaula, Mitchell, Weiss and Logan Martin and on the Cahaba River – in addition to two events at Smith Lake, made it happen.”

There are 23 cleanups planned in Alabama through Oct. 24 on the Cahaba, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Black Warrior and Mobile rivers.

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), owns and operates 14 hydroelectric plants in Alabama providing clean, low-cost electricity. The facilities also provide more than 157,000 acres of water and more than 4,000 miles of shoreline for the public’s use and enjoyment. For details about all of Alabama Power’s lakes, visit https://lakes.alabamapower.com or call 1-800-LAKES11 (1-800-525-3711).
 

Media contact: Hallie Bradley 205-257-4155