#GivingTuesday is a global movement to give back to charities that help make communities better places to live, work, and play. In our case, donations made during #GivingTuesday will help us to better support our many waterways through educational outreach, year-round water quality programs, program materials, and more. 

This year, the event falls on November 30. There are three ways to donate:

1. Donate online through our secure PayPal account.
2. Mail a check to Partners for Clean Streams (P.O. Box 203, Perrysburg, OH 43552) dated November 30 with #GivingTuesday in the memo line.
3. Donate through our Facebook fundraiser. Donations made through Facebook on November 30 may be eligible for Facebook’s match program; see program details here.

Please give water a hand on November 30 and donate to PCS on #GivingTuesdayNWO

There will also be a Board Election so if you are interested in serving on the Board, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. We need three new Board members! We look forward to this annual event to share what we do and to acknowledge the partners that make our work possible.

In total, 479 volunteers collected 8175.85 pounds of trash across 52 sites cover 56 miles of rivers, streams, and creeks. While most volunteers participated in-person on September 25, 2021 marked the return of our remote/virtual kickoff: the option for volunteers to clean up in small groups during the week leading up to Clean Your Streams Day. We broke down our results by remote and in-person kickoffs, and uncovered even more interesting finds!

From September 18-24, 68 remote/virtual volunteers picked up 1,252 pounds of trash from 20 different sites, from the mighty Maumee River in the heart of downtown Toledo, to the scenic headwaters of the Ottawa River in Sylvania.

On September 25, 411 volunteers headed off to 32 sites. These determined water stewards removed at least 6,924 pounds of marine debris, including nearly 3,000 food wrappers, 2,941 cigarette butts, 2,116 plastic bottles, and 14 tires. Students and parents from Toledo Early College High School brought the most volunteers from a single group (105 volunteers!) and removed a staggering 1,202 pounds of trash from just two sites: Highland Park and the former grounds of Libbey High School.

Volunteers’ data cards revealed even more interesting finds: plastic vampire teeth, a circular saw blade, a broken IKEA table, multiple car hubcaps, porcelain dishes, and a hotel key card. We are still left scratching our heads about the pile of 70 empty Teddy Graham containers found by one volunteer group in Oregon!

Thank you to each and every one of our volunteers. If you have not yet picked up your Silver Anniversary t-shirt, let us know what size you would like and when you would like to stop by our office.

Foams are considered to be expanded polystyrene foam- meaning it is a plastic in a fluffy form, polystyrene can be solid like a water bottle or expanded in foam form. Foam can be items like Floral foam, foam coolers, food containers, cups, plates, and packaging can contribute to this kind of microplastic in our waterways. Reducing or refusing foams are a primary way to reduce foams from ending up in our waterways.

We are proud partners on the Trash Trappers for a Cleaner Toledo Project for Trash Free Waters Toledo. Toledo is installing trash trappers to take care of the microplastics and plastic marine debris before it becomes microplastics in the water while we help remove the marine debris on land before it enters our waterways.