Congratulations to the Challenge Winners for the 20th Annual Clean Your Streams Day! These self-reported challenges encourage friendly competition between volunteer groups while inspiring them to have the largest positive impact possible on our streams.  This year, the Challenges were a little different than in years past. We awarded winners for both youth and collegiate groups in the following categories: Most Volunteers, Battle of the Bags, and Awesome Effort. We also awarded River Partner Certifications to corporate and organization groups based on the number of volunteers they brought with them on Clean Your Streams Day. Lastly, we recognized CYS Champions, or groups that have volunteered with or supported us over the past 20 years of Clean Your Streams. See the list of CYS Champions here. And check out the official list of our challenge winners and River Partners on our website! 

One of our main goals at PCS is to remove trash from local streams and rivers. Even though volunteers remove tons of trash every year during Clean Your Streams, trash accumulates quickly in our waterways. Unfortunately, this reoccurring problem is more widespread than Toledo. Marine debris, or trash in waterways, is an issue around the world. However, there are actions we can take to prevent trash from reaching the waterways and PCS is working to initiate those actions year round.

Consider registering a group for a Clean Your Streams 365 cleanup this fall!  CYS 365 is one of our annual programs and is an extension to Clean Your Streams that occurs every September. When signing up for a CYS 365 cleanup, volunteer groups schedule their own private cleanup at a location we suggest based on need.  All that is left for them to do after scheduling is to receive safety /cleaning protocol from a PCS staff member and to pick up supplies. It’s that simple! Groups can even adopt a location that frequently experiences littering to make sure that trash doesn’t continue traveling throughout our watershed. For more information about CYS 365 and to register a group, check out our website. Be an advocate for clean streams all-year round! 

Join us for the Annual General Meeting on Thursday, November 17th as we celebrate the success of 2016. The event will be held in the Hankison Great Room at the W.W. Knight Nature Preserve in Perrysburg, and will go from 6:00 to 8:00pm. Following dinner, there will be a presentation highlighting the work done this year and a sneak preview into next year’s plans. We will congratulate Clean Your Streams Challenge Award winners and present the first place winners with their certificates and plaques. We will also present the Clean Streams Partner Award, a prestigious award given to an outstanding member of the community who has shown laudable effort in protecting our local waterways. There will also be a Silent Auction of art pieces and other valuable items. For the business portion of the meeting, we will elect next year’s board members. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please contact PCS as soon as possible. We would love to have you join the team. The evening will be filled with food, celebration of the work on our rivers, our dedicated volunteers, and plans to support rivers in the future. Watch your mailbox for an invitation. Please RSVP by contacting PCS at 419-874-0727 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We look forward to seeing you there!