Photo Courtesy of Tom Corey Images
11/24/17 1st Annual Green Friday Salt River Cleanup Project
Volunteers listening to safety briefing. Photo courtesy of Tom Corey Images
Natural Restorations hosted our 1st Annual Green Friday Salt River Cleanup on Friday, November 24th, 2017.
Volunteers removed 4795 pounds of trash, aluminum cans, and rigid plastics from the Lower Salt River. We recycled 1265 pounds of aluminum cans, recycled 90 pounds of rigid plastics through a recycling program with TerraCycle, and disposed of 3440 pounds of trash.
260 volunteers, including 63 youth volunteers, hiked along the river banks picking up trash and recyclables from Granite Reef, Phon D Sutton, Coon Bluff, and Water Users Recreation Area along the Lower Salt River. We also had volunteers in kayaks and waders accessing areas along the river that other volunteers couldn't. Check out all of the amazing photo galleries from photographers and volunteers.
We asked the community to think differently about the day after Thanksgiving and start a new tradition and we are grateful to everyone who joined us and helped make a huge impact on the Lower Salt River. Green Friday is a day to #OptOutside, give back, and help keep outdoor recreation and wilderness areas clean and open for the public to enjoy. Join us next year for the Second Annual Green Friday Cleanup!
The following photo gallery is courtesy of Tom Corey Images. Click on the photo for larger images:
Huge thanks to the following organizations and individuals for your support of this event: American Rivers, Arizona Trail Association, Body Mechanicx Sports Therapy, DRP Construction, Friends of the Tonto National Forest, Garland Signs & Specialties, HuppyBar, The Home Depot in Apache Junction off Crismon & US-60, ICON Vehicle Dynamics, Insane Audio, J. Bowers & Associates, Mountain Chicks, Parks Project, REI and REI's Goodyear Distribution Center, Safeway, Salt River Project, Southwest Airlines, TerraCycle, Tom Corey Images, Tom Story Photography, the U.S. Forest Service - Tonto National Forest, Mesa Ranger District, & Walmart in Apache Junction.
The following photo gallery is courtesy of Tom Story Photography. Click on the picture for larger images.
Raffle Winners! Huge thanks to Body Mechanicx Sports Therapy, Parks Project, and REI's Goodyear Distribution Center for providing us with awesome prizes for volunteers.
Special thanks to Bob Bruce and his team at the REI Goodyear Distribution Center for giving volunteers t-shirts, donating trash grabbers and raffle prizes, and leading the cleanup at Coon Bluff. Thank you Georgy from Friends of the Tonto National Forest for leading a group of volunteers at Granite Reef. Thank you Destini from Salt River Wild Horse Management and Steve from East Valley Back Country Horseman for leading a group of volunteers at Water User's Recreation Area. Thank you Beth and Chris from the Tonto National Forest Service - Mesa Ranger Office for helping wherever we needed you! Thank you Judd and Roxey Bowers for handing out cold waters and extra trash bags to volunteers and helping us bring full trash bags back to the dumpster. Thank you to each and every volunteer and organization who helped make our 1st Annual Green Friday Cleanup a HUGE success! We'll see you next year! Save the date for Friday, November 23rd, 2018!
Check out these photos taken by Lisa Ristuccia from OdySea Aquarium. The youth volunteers are part of Trendsetters Through Education, a Fountain Hills Charter School.
Check out these photos courtesy of Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, they tackled the area at Water Users Recreation Site.
Here are some additional pictures that volunteers shared with us and a few that we took.
Click HERE to check out our Events Calendar and register for a cleanup.