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Friends of Accotink Creek
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Our October 22, 2016, cleanups: A bright, brisk, and blustery day gave us decent cleanup conditions all day long, even though the breeze kept our blue awning furled. At our first site, Fairfax Boulevard, a crew of 22 volunteers scoured the creek and woods, bringing out 15 bags of rubbish. A sharp-eyed passing motorist stopped and claimed a 12' section of corrugated drain pipe sitting atop our pile and took it home to return to useful service - Reduce, Recycle, Reuse! A still-rideable kid's bicycle was our most unusual find here, and by the end of the day, it too had disappeared, taken home by someone for continued useful life - Reduce, Recycle, Reuse! Our second site of the day was Chain Bridge Road, where 35 volunteers cleaned up 22 bags of trash. We were joined by several members of the McLean High School Oceanography class - Thank you, Oceanographers! Also joining us was a big contingent of members of the Oakton High School Environmental Club - Thank you, Oakton Environmentals! A passing pedestrian described his own individual cleanups in this area, much appreciated by our creek. Strange finds were in abundance here - the raccoon skull our Oakton students named "Benedict Arnold" and took back to their school - the two unopened bottles of Chardonnay - the two Safeway shopping carts that were pressed into service ferrying trash bags along the the trail before we pushed them up the street back to Safeway.
Old Lee Highway was our last site of the day and last site of our autumn cleanup season. Our 36 volunteers here included a big group of members of Girl Scout Troop 36 - Thank you, Girl Scouts! Something new here was an impressive memorial graffiti portrait of the artist Prince beneath the "For if one link in nature's chain might be lost, another might be lost, until the whole of things will vanish piecemeal." - Thomas Jefferson
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 Oakton High School Environmental Club volunteers with rescued shopping carts. |
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 Canoe filled with tires and trash plying the backwaters of Lake Accotink. |
October 15, 2016, Cleanups:
Today, with clear skies and mild cool temperatures, Friends of Accotink Creek joined in support of other groups organizing cleanups in our watershed. At Lake Accotink Park, after lifting a few logs from the marina, we took to the water, canoeing to the far end of the lake and up the stillwater portion of the creek. Halfway out, we realized we had forgotten an essential piece of gear - our trash bags. But Accotink Creek provided; the first item we found was a large intact trash bag, and when we had filled that one, we found another that we also filled. Adding in three submerged tires from the bottom of the creek, we returned with a full canoe, waving at the volunteers cleaning along the shoreline. We were frustrated at having been unable to budge the sunken mud-filled inflatable boat we encountered - evidence, perhaps of the fate of the legendary Lost Expedition of the Accotink. We also joined with our tributary group, Friends of Long Branch Stream Valley, for their community stream cleanup. We were very impressed by the turnout - 50 or 60 people, mostly families, and lots of excited and enthusiastic youth! The kids happily explored along the trail and stream, finding quite a bit of trash, including car parts, signs, and a hockey stick. Wildlife spotted included a herd of deer, a fox crossing the stream, hawks, and crows! FLBSV has a dedicated core of volunteers and excellent community support - they're doing great work. "Last year, the US used enough plastic water bottles to stretch around the world over 190 times." - Brita.com How many of them ended up in Accotink Creek? |
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Our October 8, 2016 stream cleanup: The weather forecast was for a 100% chance of rain, and so it was all day long, varying from dreary and drizzly to light rain and back again. Luckily, the rain was merely manageable, rather than miserable. At King Arthur Road, our first site, 24 volunteers removed 18 bags of trash and two tires. A group of Boy Scouts from Troop 1532 joined us. Thank you, scouts! Our most unusual find here was a "Blasting Area" construction sign. Our second site, Little River Turnpike, had a smaller turnout of just five volunteers. A father and son team wrestled with a bike stuck deep in mud, finally extracting it, for our most nusual find here. We collected 12 bags of trash here. Our final site of the day, Braddock Road brought out just four volunteers hardy enough to defy the weather. Some volunteers encountered a big logjam with too much trash caught behind it and too little time to clean even a quarter of it. Other volunteers spotted a cartop carrier in the creek - too big to carry out. We cleaned out 8 bags of trash and one tire here. Our most unusual item was a rather ordinary metal fencepost. Just as we were leaving, a glimmer of blue sky appeared in the west. "Consider the cost to engineer a water amenity like Accotink Creek compared to the cost of preserving what nature has blessed us with." - Donald Pless Remember to remind your groups of the importance of proper cleanup during and after all outdoor activities. Reduce, Recycle, Reuse! In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. - Aristotle |
 Startling botanical discovery - the Beer Tree! |
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 Order of the Rainbow volunteers hauled this shopping cart out of Accotink Creek and returned it to service at Costco. |
Our October 1, 2016 stream cleanups:
Ominous dark clouds threatened as the morning began, but the last raindrops fell just as we began setting up. We worked in nothing more than inconsequential light drizzle for the first half of the day and cloudy skies later in the afternoon. High water after days of rain made the falls in the Accotink Gorge more dramatic than usual, but water was not so high as to be dangerous for volunteers. Although they did not bring a rainbow with them, at our first site, Fullerton Road, we were joined by Springfield Assembly 14 of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. Thank you Rainbows! A group of McLean High School Oceanography class students were also with us. Thank you Oceanographers! The need for our Accotink Gorge project was made evident by the impenetrable mass of Chinese wisteria vines impeding movement upstream. Our 12 volunteers filled 10 trash bags and wrestled a shopping cart up the slope from the creek. At our second site, Franconia-Springfield Parkway, seven volunteers collected 14 bags of trash, including a cleanup of the Hooes Road illegal dumping site. New "No Dumping" signs seem not to be particularly effective. The two-wires-on-a-metal-pole object we found here defied explanation, but gave a laugh as a possible ear exam device. At Telegraph Road, our last site of the day, a small band of four volunteers cleaned six bags of trash and one tire out of the creek. A representative of McLean High School Oceanography class was with us here as well. Thank you Oceanographers! The Oceanographer and her sister, unusually motivated, did not let their lack of rubber boots hinder them, but waded right into the creek. Our most unusual (but sadly, not really ususual) item was an orange traffic cone.
"If half of American lawns were replaced with native plants we would create the equivalent of a 20 million acre national park - nine times bigger than Yellowstone, or 100 times bigger than Shenandoah National Park." - Dr. Doug Tallamy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Our September 24, 2016, stream cleanups:
We have favorable weather for cleanups all day today, with temperatures in the 80's under dry, pleasantly overcast skies. At Pickett Road, our first site, a good crowd of volunteers turned out. Seventy-four volunteers joined in, including participating churches of Day to Serve, Eagle Distributing, and Boy Scout Troops 807 and 1508. Thank you to all! Along with 48 bags of trash and two tires, some strange items showed up, including what appeared to be a cremation urn, and a yoga mat some volunteers did positions on. At our second site, Barkley Drive, our 10 volunteers included a group of passing bicyclists. The 24 bags of trash and two tires we collected included only routine trash items, dominated by beverage bottles and plastic bags. Our final site of the day was Woodburn Road. Our ten volunteers collected 16 bags of trash and 6 tires. Again, all our trash was routine, with nothing more noteworthy than a section of corrugated drainpipe. How many ways can the message of personal responsibility be expressed? No littering! No Dumping! Pitch in! Put trash in its place! We all benefit by being reminded! 
GET YOUR BRAIN WET! Think about your creek. |
 Volunteers gather with the results of their labor at Pickett Road. |
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 Temple Adat Reyim members celebrate after cleanup. |
Our September 18, 2016 stream cleanup:
Temple Adat Reyim returned to Wakefield Park with 28 volunteers of all ages. There was a brief discussion on the trail footbridge of the whys and hows of the stream restoration project in progress there. The volunteers removed 9 bags of trash, plus a lawn chair, then enjoyed their traditional reward of ice cream treats.
Despite all the wonderful volunteers who have turned out to help, we are still outnumbered by the litterbugs. Your club, school, business, or other group is welcome to join Friends of Accotink Creek in next year's Potomac Watershed Cleanup in April & May, and the International Coastal Cleanup in September & October! Volunteer site leaders and coordinators are needed! Follow the Friends of Accotink Creek motto and "Find just one other person who cares". |
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The International Coastal Cleanup is the world's largest volunteer data collection effort devoted to the marine environment. The Ocean Conservancy compiles the data received from sites around the world, and prepares a summary report to be used by citizens and policy makers in evaluating our progress in dealing with this serious form of pollution.
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GET YOUR BRAIN WET! Join Friends of Accotink Creek in next year's International Coastal Cleanup in September and the Potomac Watershed Cleanup in April!
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bridge. More unopened beverages turned up here, including a bottle of powerade which one volunteer bravely or foolishly sipped from. A case of unopened cans of Coca-Cola seemed perhaps to be the stashed property of an indigent person, so we left it behind. Our volunteers removed 41 bags of trash and 1 tire. Our most unusual find was a bicycle frame.
