Nestlé Waters Deer Park employees and volunteers collected 337 pounds of trash and debris from the Withlacoochee River on Saturday, Sept. 26 as part of the 6th Annual Great Suwannee River Basin Cleanup and National Public Lands Day. During the canoe cleanup, the group found common waterway pollutants, including beer cans, clothing items and tires. A new find this year was a three foot inflatable snowman, complete with a top hat. A description of the full haul is below. The Great Suwannee River Basin Cleanup is part of the American Rivers program’s Trash-Free Watershed Initiative and is organized by Current Problems of Gainesville.
As an annual sponsor, Nestlé Waters helps this organization with its annual cleanup of the basin from the Georgia state line to the Gulf of Mexico. Full haul: three tires, 107 glass beer bottles. 19 misc. glass bottles, 84 plastic bottles, four pairs beach flipflops, one pair water shoes, two shirts, two shorts, one diaper, five fishing floats, snowman, water gun, lots of plastic bags and food wrappers, five snuff cans, two cig packs, lots of cigarette butts, two cigarello tips, 27 beer bottle caps, plastic garbage shed door, five gallon bucket hydraulic oil, cooler lid, 1/2 sheet plywood, 10 yards monofilament fishing line and lots of miscellaneous.
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1. Photo Submitted. Blake Stricklin extracts a tire from the Withlacoochee River on Sept. 26 during the 6th Annual Great Suwannee River Basin Cleanup and National Public Lands Day.
2. Photo Submitted. Nestlé Waters Deer Park employees and volunteers collected more than 300 pounds of trash and debris from the Withlacoochee River. Pictured, from left to right, are: Blake Stricklin, Allison VanderKolk, Christian Bouchard, Daniella Reynolds, Josh Pulliam, Kent Koptiuch and Chelsea Pulliam.
3. Photo Submitted.Many items were cleaned out of the Withlacoochee River in order to preserve our environment.
4. Photo Submitted. Christian Bouchard spots a shirt stuck in a tree along the Withlacoochee River during the 6th Annual Great Suwannee River Basin Cleanup and National Public Lands Day on Sept. 26.
5. Photo Submitted. Kent Koptiuch, natural resources manager for Nestlé Waters North America, collects trash and debris from the Withlacoochee River during the 6th Annual Great Suwannee River Basin Cleanup and National Public Lands Day on Sept. 26.