Gurnee student group picks up trash along the Des Plaines river

A two-mile stretch of the Des Plaines River is a little cleaner today thanks to a group of environmentally aware students.

Donning leather gloves and carrying large black garbage bags, about 200 students from Warren Township High School in Gurnee gathered Sunday at Verne Gowe Memorial Park and made their way down to the river, picking up trash along the way.

"I just really care about the environment and think it is totally disgusting when people pollute," said freshman Emily Kaufmann. "I joined MECS (Mother Earth's Concerned Students) because it was a great way to help."

Mother Earth's Concerned Students organized Sunday's event.

The student group also works with the Lake County Forest Preserve District most Sundays in the fall, holds a yearly locker clean out and hosts an annual electronics and shoe recycling events.

Group advisers Andy Boncer and Roy Triveline led Sunday's cleanup.

"It's always a good turnout and a fun event at Warren," Triveline said. "In past years, we've filled dumpsters and pickup trucks with the trash collected."

Triveline's daughter, Molly, 13, has been helping out for as long as she can remember.

Molly Triveline said she's most interested in the items pulled out of the river, including a car bumper, a bicycle and a metal chair.

"I can't believe the stuff people throw in there," she said.

Yvette Cuevas, 16, joined the group this year after watching Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

"I think it is more important than ever for us to do something to try to reverse the effects of global warming," Cuevas said. "We need to be part of the solution, not the problem."

Bonnie Marker, adviser for the Students of Service Group at Warren's Almond campus, said the students have fun cleaning up. She attributed the large turnout to heightened awareness of environmental issues.

"It is amazing what they will find in that river," Marker said. "They are not treasure hunting. It is just a lot of junk."