MDC helps sponsor 6th Annual Confluence Trash Bash, happening tomorrow

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News from the region
Saint Louis
Published Date
03/14/2014
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St. Louis, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is helping to sponsor one of the largest litter clean-ups in the St. Louis area—the 6th Annual Confluence Trash Bash. The event is happening tomorrow, Saturday, March 15, from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Volunteers are needed to help clean up rivers and creeks that lie within the Confluence Greenway. Past cleanup efforts have drawn over a thousand volunteers who have removed 5,000 tires and more than 61 tons of trash and scrap from area streams and rivers.

Volunteers can choose from four starting locations:

  • Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, 10950 Riverview Drive in St. Louis;
  • Bangert Park, 275 S. New Florissant Road in Florissant;
  • Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex, 13212 Ferguson Lane in Bridgeton;
  • Creve Coeur Lake, 13725 Marine Ave. in Maryland Heights.

Specific cleanup sites will then be assigned near each of the starting locations. At noon, participants will return to their respective starting locations for a celebration and free lunch. Prizes will be awarded to volunteers who find the weirdest, biggest, and most expensive trash that morning.

Individual volunteers, civic groups, and youth organizations are encouraged to volunteer. No experience is required. Volunteers will be provided a free t-shirt, bags, and gloves, courtesy of the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD).

Preregistration is required to participate. Those wishing to volunteer can register online at StLMSD.com/TrashBash.

“Volunteers should plan on working hard, having fun, getting wet and dirty, and leaving with the sense that they’ve contributed to the environment and to our local water quality in a very significant way,” said Dona Schuh-Anderson, partner for MSD.

In addition to MDC, other sponsors of the Confluence Trash Bash include Great Rivers Greenway, Missouri American Water, Trailnet, Missouri Stream Teams, and MSD. Hosting locations are the Cities of Bridgeton and Florissant. Additional sponsoring organizations include the St. Louis Audubon Society, Missouri River Relief, St. Louis County, and the cities of St. Louis, Creve Coeur, Glendale, Jennings, Maryland Heights, Northwoods and Overland.