Now in its 19th year, Renew Our Rivers (ROR) kicks off again in February with 30 planned cleanups across Alabama. Renew Our Rivers began with Gene Phifer’s vision in 2000 to clean a stretch of the Coosa River near Plant Gadsden, where he worked. Since then, 110,000 volunteers have joined the effort and collected more than 15 million pounds of trash and debris from waterways across the Southeast. That milestone was reached late last year.
15 Years of Renew Our Rivers from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
“Fifteen million is a staggering number in and of itself,” said Susan Comensky, Alabama Power’s vice president for Environmental Affairs. “But when you apply it to the amount of trash and debris that otherwise would be in these lakes, it is beyond staggering. Renew Our Rivers has made an overwhelming difference.”
In 2017 alone, 4,714 volunteers removed more than 295,000 pounds of trash from Alabama lakes, rivers and shorelines.
“Renew Our Rivers got its start with a single power company employee, but it has been embraced and championed by volunteers, young and old, across the Southeast,” said Mike Clelland, an Environmental Affairs specialist with Alabama Power who coordinates ROR cleanups. Alabama Power employee volunteers assist at each Alabama cleanup, providing guidance and supplies to event organizers.
Renew Our Rivers is just one of many initiatives in which Alabama Power partners with others to promote conservation and environmental stewardship in communities across the state. For an up-to-date listing of Renew Our Rivers cleanups scheduled in 2018, please visit https://apcshorelines.com/blog/.
Here’s a list of Renew our Rivers cleanups for 2018:
- Feb. 17: Alabama River
Contact: John-Paul O’Driscoll at 334-358-6749 - March 3: Lake Eufaula (Chattahoochee River)
Contact: Brad Moore at 334-616-7888 - March 17: Valley Creek
Contact: Freddie Freeman at 205-424-4060 ext. 4188 or`
www.jcdh.org/wpd - March 17-24: Logan Martin (Coosa River)
Contact: Mike Riley at 205-531-2372 - March 24: Lake Mitchell (Coosa River)
Contact: Dale Vann at 205-910-3713 or [email protected] - April 7: Lay Lake at E.C. Gaston Plant (Coosa River)
Contact: Tanisha Fenderson at 205-669-2020 - April 7: Cahaba River
Contact: Myra Crawford at [email protected] - April 11-12: Smith Lake (Winston County)
Contact: Allison Cochran at 205-489-5111 - April 14: Lake Jordan (Coosa River)
Contact: Brenda Basnight at 334-478-3388 - April 15-21: Lay Lake (Coosa River)
Contact: Judy Jones at 205-669-4865 - April 20: Smith Lake (Cullman County)
Contact: Jim Murphy at 205-529-5981 - April 24-25: Plant Barry (Mobile River)
Contact: Bo Cotton at 251-331-0603 - April 27: Plant Miller (Locust Fork)
Contact: Jeff Baker at 205-408-2033 or [email protected] - April 28: Weiss Lake
Contact: Sam Marko at 404-626-8594 - May 7-8: Smith Lake (Walker County)
Contact: Roger Treglown at 205-300-5253 - May 11: Gorgas Steam Plant (Mulberry Fork)
Contact: Che George at 205-686-2324 or [email protected] - May 19: Bankhead Lake (Black Warrior River)
Contact: Buck Vines at 205-226-1170 - Aug. 4: Holt Lake (Black Warrior River)
Contact: Becky Clark at 205-799-2449 - Aug. 4: Upper Tallapoosa River
Contact: Lex Brown at 256-748-3842 - Aug. 25: Neely Henry Lake (Calhoun County)
Contact: Casandra Lewis Maudsley at 205-472-0481 or [email protected] - Sept. 10-11: Smith Lake (Walker County)
Contact: Roger Treglown at 205-300-5253 - Sept.14: Smith Lake (Cullman County)
Contact: Jim Murphy at 205-529-5981 - Sept. 13-15: Village Creek
Contact: Yohance Owens at 205-798-0087 - Sept. 28-29: Lake Demopolis
Contact: Jesse Johnson at 334-289-6160 or 251-238-1257 - Oct. 4: Smith Lake (Winston County)
Contact: Jim Eason at [email protected] - Oct. 9: Dog River (Mobile County)
Contact: Catie Boss at 251-829-2146 or [email protected] - Oct. 27: Lake Mitchell (Coosa River)
Contact: Dale Vann at 205-910-3713 or [email protected] - Oct. 23-25: R.L. Harris (Tallapoosa River-Lake Wedowee)
Contact: Sheila Smith at 205-396-5093 or Marlin Glover at
770-445-0824 - Oct. 29-Nov. 2: Neely Henry Lake (Coosa River)
Contact: Lisa Dover at 256-549-0900 - Nov. 2-3: Lake Martin (Tallapoosa River)
Contact: John Thompson at 334-399-3289 or
[email protected]
