Spring is here - and just like your dorm rooms and apartments, the environment needs a little spring cleaning, too.
That's why volunteers from all over Western New York joined the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper's Spring Shoreline Cleanup last Saturday at over 35 locations along the shores of Buffalo creeks and the Niagara River.
"It was a record-breaking spring cleanup... with a 25 percent increase in volunteers from our highest-ever amount," Bentkowski said. "It was a wonderful, positive response from the community, and we had a lot of UB participation."
The Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization based in Buffalo that hosts multiple cleanup events per year, as well as hosting hiking and paddling experiences to connect citizens to the natural experiences of Western New York.
Approximately 1,600 volunteers registered to partake in cleaning up many creeks and rivers throughout the Buffalo/Niagara region Saturday morning, according to Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper citizen action coordinator Kerri Bentkowski.
Cleanup crews found heaps of trash, cleared the waters from the buildup of debris and litter the water catches and united to keep our water clean.
Much of that participation was credited to the UB Community OutReach for Employees (CORE), an organization dedicated to increasing volunteerism at UB, who added UB's presence to the environmental movement.
"We had members, including the faculty and staff, that are a part of the UB CORE," Bentkowski said. "Lots of students participated as well, and one of our cleanup sites was at the UB bike path."
According to Bentkowski, the cleanup was a positive experience for the volunteers because it brought citizens from their daily routines to witnessing the conditions of their surrounding nature.
"It was a fun day, but also a very meaningful day ... We had such a tremendous turnout that people are coming out to their local waterways and seeing the condition of Ellicott Creek and Buffalo River," Bentkowski said. "It gives them an opportunity to become a steward of their waterway ... it's their waterway, it's their river."
Ways all citizens can help to reduce the amount of litter and trash along riverbanks requires actively remembering what causes the accumulation of garbage, according to Bentkowski.
"[People] should try and reduce the amount of waste by recycling, buying products with less packaging, properly throwing away trash, and participat[ing] in your county's hazardous waste recycling days," Bentkowski said. "A lot of times litter will get blown by the wind and gets hung up on streams and vegetation... sometimes [littering] is laziness, and sometimes it's illegal dumping."
River keepers collected various items of trash, including a refrigerator and an 8-foot metal gate with barbed wire attached - littering that is preventable and obviously intentional bulk dumping, according to Bentkowski.
Those interested in volunteering for the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper organization, or would like to enjoy one of their eco-tours or other future events, more information can be found at www.bnriverkeeper.org.
