Alabama Power employees joined other volunteers from across Jefferson County this past weekend to help remove trash from communities located along Valley Creek, kicking off the 2023 Renew Our Rivers public cleanup schedule for 2023.

In all, more than two dozen community cleanups are slated to be held through November on Alabama Power reservoirs, as well as on rivers and streams across the state. Community and civic groups, homeowner and boat owner organizations, neighborhood associations and individuals are among the many who take part in Renew Our Rivers cleanups throughout the year.

Renew Our Rivers volunteers fan out in the Five Points West area of Birmingham to pick up trash so it doesn’t wash into Valley Creek. (Michael Sznajderman / Alabama News Center)

This past weekend’s cleanup took place simultaneously at four sites in Jefferson County. Among the locations was the Five Points West area of Birmingham, where volunteers fanned out from the starting point at the community’s public library to remove trash along streets near Valley Creek. The goal: to keep that trash from washing into the waterway and, eventually, into the Black Warrior River.

More than a dozen agencies, businesses and organizations supported the Valley Creek cleanup, including Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Department of Health, the city of Birmingham, U.S. Steel, Wise Environmental, Home Depot and the nonprofit Freshwater Land Trust.

Renew Our Rivers volunteers in Birmingham. The cleanup campaign has been making a difference in communities across the state for more than 20 years. (Michael Sznajderman / Alabama News Center)

“Renew Our Rivers cleanups truly bring together neighbors, businesses, nonprofits and folks young and old who want to help keep our lakes, rivers and streams clean,” said Susan Comensky, Alabama Power’s vice president of Environmental Affairs.

Now in its 24^th year, Renew Our Rivers began with a single cleanup on the Coosa River in Gadsden and has since grown into one of the largest volunteer river cleanup campaigns in the Southeast. Since its start, volunteers have removed more than 16 million pounds of trash and debris from waterways. This year, Renew Our Rivers is on track to top 100,000 volunteers who’ve supported cleanups in Alabama.

As warm spring weather settles in, four more Renew Our Rivers cleanups are scheduled this month, with another five slated for April. Dates are subject to change.

To see the full 2023 schedule and find contact information for every cleanup, click here.