Volunteers clean trash from Salt Creek in Elk Grove Village

The Salt Creek Watershed Network and Boy Scout Troop 95 held the 26th annual Salt Creek Cleanup Saturday morning.

The group met at Elk Grove High School, then walked to the creek to begin work. They collected trash from the water and deposited it in a boat, then unloaded the trash when they reached Biesterfield Road.

Nick Nikola came up with the idea to start an organization to clean up Salt Creek after purchasing a house along the creek decades ago. He said he and his family would paddle the creek and pick up trash every time they went out.

"We'd come home with a canoe-load of garbage," he said. "We couldn't make a difference."

After a few years, he decided to expand the effort by building a network of volunteers.

On Saturday, about 20 of the volunteers, many of whom were from Boy Scout Troop 95, waded in the sometimes waist-deep water and placed the trash they picked up into a boat. Other volunteers walked along the shoreline and picked up trash.