The continuous journey to Washington D.C on the Students Today, Leaders Forever Pay It Forward tour finally arrived to the city. It wasn't until we arrived that we were able to know what our volunteer project was going to be the next morning. They told us that it would be messy, dirty, and very gross; but those descriptions did not give the poor Anacostia River justice. The amount of sewage and garbage that was found was repulsive. To see how much littering that had happened was almost unreal. The mayor and some of the others came and spoke to us about how flooding had brought a lot of unsavory things into the river; however, I don't think most of the things we found were from severe flooding. Around 250 people spent four hours cleaning one part of that river, and it still wasn't enough. I was forced to leave hundreds of glass liquor bottle behind because I ran out of time.
This was only a very small amount of garbage that we found. I even found a Woodland Conservation Area sign that I am holding up. Ironic, right? Many of the things we found were evidence that a flood had not put it there but someone who threw it because they didn't know what else to do with it.
In the Natural Resources Defense Council (http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/fanacost.asp), it even states that the Anacostia River is nicknamed "the Forgotten River" and that it is a national embarrassment. To make it even better, this river flows in the shadow of the Capitol building. Did I mention that it was the most polluted river in the country? Talk about national pride. Yes, there have been steps to start cleaning it up; however, the naturalist in me is outraged that more isn't being done. Apparently STLF ( http://stlf.net/get-connected/blog/7-years-and-3000-students-later ) has been returning to help clean this river since 2005. Over 3,000 college students have volunteered their time over the years, yet it always seems to be in the same state when they return. Seems like a problem, right?
Wow! Great post! love ya Mom
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