For 27 years, we’ve been amazed by our volunteers’ determined water stewardship during Clean Your Streams. We’re proud to present their results with a full breakdown of the citizen science data collected this year.
Clean Your Streams is a watershed clean-up program where volunteers remove trash and record citizen science data on the items they collect. CYS is the largest cleanup in Ohio that contributes marine debris data to the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) database. Volunteers impact watersheds across our region, including the Ottawa River, Swan Creek, Maumee River, and Maumee Bay tributaries. Over the past 27 years of CYS, more than 16,250 volunteers have removed approximately 397,600 pounds of marine debris.
Like the last few years, the most frequently removed items from Northwest Ohio’s waterways were #1 food wrappers, #2 cigarette butts, and #3 plastic beverage bottles. Unusual finds this year included a message in a bottle, turtle-shaped sandbox, hot tub cover, bar stool, bowling ball, coffee table, plastic Christmas tree, and, puzzlingly, an inner tube full of bricks.
Total Impact of Remote and In-Person Kickoffs
Volunteers: 723
Sites cleaned: 70
Pounds of marine debris removed: 14,957
River miles: 37
Check out our full CYS 27 Fact Sheet and downloadable Infographic for more photos and information!
