More than 5,700 volunteers in 32 communities across the state partnered with Alabama Power in 2013 to remove more than 380,000 pounds of trash and debris from Alabama waterways as part of the ongoing Renew Our Rivers campaign.

Community volunteers and Alabama Power employees have had a remarkable impact on Alabama’s lakes, rivers and streams since Renew Our Rivers began in 2000. Since then, more than 56,000 participants have removed more than
13 million pounds of trash and debris from waterways across the Southeast.

In 2014 Renew Our Rivers will celebrate 15 years of preserving Alabama waterways. What began as a single cleanup event on Lake Neely Henry has grown to include dozens of annual cleanups involving thousands of volunteers. In addition to the cleanups in Alabama, Renew Our Rivers has expanded to include cleanup events in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi.

“Renew Our Rivers began with the vision of one Alabama Power employee who sought to improve the health and beauty of the Coosa River near Plant Gadsden where he worked,” said Matt Bowden, vice president of Environmental Affairs at Alabama Power. “It has grown into a grassroots effort in our communities, drawing fresh support every year from thousands of volunteers across Alabama seeking to enhance their local waterways.”

Alabama Power’s Renew Our Rivers campaign includes partnerships with schools and teachers across the state to distribute more than 50,000 “Message in the Bottle” coloring books to educate students about conservation and environmental stewardship.

The Alabama Power Foundation has also provided more than $60,000 in grants to teachers for aquatic environmental education projects in connection with Renew Our Rivers.

A number of special events will be scheduled during 2014 in recognition of the 15^th anniversary of Renew Our Rivers. Details will be announced soon. 

For a complete listing of the 2013 cleanups and their individual trash tallies, please visit www.renewourrivers.com.

To see a list of Renew Our Rivers cleanups scheduled in 2014, please visit www.renewourrivers.com, or go to www.alabamapower.com and click on “Lakes & Recreation.”

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), provides reliable, affordable electricity to more than 1.4 million customers across the state.