DuPage River to get a clean sweep
If you ever receive a package from Naperville resident Ellen Johnson, feel confident that it's not packed with Styrofoam peanuts.
She's plucked too many of those little environmentally unfriendly tumbleweeds from the DuPage River to estimate in the 20-plus years she's paddled her canoe up and down fishing out other people's garbage.
"I hate Styrofoam peanuts," she said. "I wish people wouldn't even use them anymore. Or Styrofoam, period. There's chunks of Styrofoam in the water and it breaks apart and crumbles.
"That's nasty," she said of the Styrofoam debris and the many other objects she's retrieved, including a grocery cart, a yard ornament goose, traffic cones and countless plastic cups, bottles and bags.
Johnson will join hundreds of other volunteers Saturday, May 22, for the annual DuPage River Sweep, a cleanup effort that has retrieved 190 tons - yes, tons - of debris from the river and its tributaries in the past 19 years.
The sweep is a collaborative effort among several local and state organizations, including The Conservation Foundation, the DuPage County Stormwater Management Division, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, and Waste Management Inc. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and American Rivers also support the cleanup with grants.
Last year, more than 550 volunteers collected five and a half tons of garbage and restored 6,000 square feet back into native habitat by cleaning out invasive species of plants such as garlic mustard and buckthorn.
"Not only did they enjoy participating, but they learned a lot," said Sue George, watershed assistant with The Conservation Foundation. "We're just glad to have so many people willing to volunteer as well as willing to learn."
This year, volunteers will restore habitat in four different areas.
Cleaning debris from in and around the river is no easy - or clean - task. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good time.
"You get absolutely, horribly filthy and it's fun," said Johnson, who is a community liaison for the sweep. "On a pretty day, hey, it's great just to be out there."
Johnson, a member of the Prairie State Canoeists, has been cleaning out the river since before The Conservation Foundation took over the sweep.
While garbage is always viewed as nuisance, on this annual day of cleanup, volunteers see it as the enemy.
"It does frustrate me if I'm out for a day of pleasure canoeing and I see tons of trash, that bothers me a lot," Johnson said. On the day of clean up, however, "it's a challenge. I'm going to get that bottle."
Fifteen communities will host sweep sites: Addison, Bloomingdale, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Hanover Park, Itasca, Lisle, Lombard, Naperville, Oak Brook, Plainfield, Villa Park, Warrenville and Wheaton.
Volunteers must register before Saturday at theconservationfoundation.org.
After registering, volunteers will be linked to the community liaison person in the area.
"I hope we have a gorgeous day and we get a ton of garbage," Johnson said.
<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>
<p class="News"><b>What:</b> DuPage River Sweep</p>
<p class="News"><b>When:</b> 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 22</p>
<p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Various locations along the DuPage River </p>
<p class="News"><b>Details:</b> Registration required</p>
<p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="http://theconservationfoundation.org" target="new">theconservationfoundation.org</a></p>