Andrea first started volunteering for Clean Your Streams Day over 10 years ago. She started volunteering with her husband in a neighborhood group. But it did not stop there. Andrea comes back, not only for the community service but because it is fun, the entire day. So much fun that she has brought her 3 sons over the course of the last 10 years and has gotten the BSA Scouts involved as well, as a service project.

There are a lot of things to enjoy about Clean Your Streams Day. One of Andrea’s favorite parts of Clean Your Streams Day is the strange things that you can find. Finding something that has a real shock factor is always interesting. Andrea had noted over the years that the trash changes based on the area (i.e., if there is construction in the area or if it is a park). She noted last year that there were significantly more masks and gloves found. The strangest things she had found over the years was a gun and a new bong, which her Scouts thought was a fancy vase; she did not break their innocence.

Andrea has found Clean Your Streams Day and Get the Lead Out to be very eye-opening as to what is all long our river. Last year, the pandemic did not dissuade her effort for community service and the excitement of the day. We are looking forward to seeing what you find this year, Andrea, and thank you for all your efforts to clean our streams!

Before your clean-up:

1. Download Clean Swell from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

2. Create a profile.

When you are ready to begin your clean-up:

1. Open the app on-site of your cleanup so it can detect your location.
2. Select “Start Collecting” on the home screen.
3. Share the number of people participating.
4. Name your group “CYS25 – YourGroupName.” You should still name your group if you are an individual or a family. Otherwise, PCS cannot credit you!
5. As you pick up pieces of trash, tap the corresponding button on the screen.
   1. If you need to remove an item you marked by mistake, scroll down to toggle removing/adding items.
6. Once you have finished your clean-up, select “Done Collecting” at the bottom of the screen.
7. Review your information and on how your clean-up went. If all looks good, scroll down to select “Submit My Data!”
   1. Make sure to submit your data before you leave your clean-up site. Otherwise, the app will continue to note your location and think you cleaned up during your entire walk or drive
      back home!
8. Clean Swell will send a thank-you email to the address you provided, and your data will now appear as part of the Ocean Conservancy’s marine debris database.

Plus, there are cute badges to earn for each clean-up that turns colorful once you have completed a clean-up. Any time you use the app in our region you will be directly contributing to the database that helps our local governments make decisions and see trash trends! 

For a video tutorial on how to use Clean Swell, click here.

Register online for the 25th, Silver Anniversary, of Clean Your Streams Day! 

Clean Your Streams will be happening the week of September 18th- September 25th, with the main celebration happening on September 25th. There will be an in-person clean-up on September 25th with usual kick-off locations from 8:00 am to 11:30 am.

But if you cannot make September 25th, we are offering “remote” do it on-your-own time clean-ups beforehand using the Clean Swell App. Both “remote” and in-person volunteers will be invited to a special Clean Your Stream 25th Anniversary picnic on September 25th to celebrate and reflect on their amazing impact on our waterways.