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Virginia Eagle volunteers clean up along Flag Run |
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On a chilly morning in November, about 15 volunteers from Virginia Eagle Distributing met with Kris and Sandy of Friends of Accotink Creek for a stream cleanup at Lake Accotink Park. We followed paths through the woods along Flag Run, heading upstream towards Queensbury Avenue. We collected 12 full bags of trash along a 1/2 mile section of the stream, on a beautiful fall day (once we warmed up!)
Virginia Eagle reached out to us to make this cleanup happen as part of their corporate green initiative. They showed their commitment to the environment in their willingness to work with us, their careful and enthusiastic approach to planning the event, and by showing up on a cold Saturday morning in November. We really appreciate their initiative and dedication as a corporate Friend of Accotink Creek - they made a difference!
During the cleanup, one volunteer who grew up in the area fondly remembered high school rivalries played out in football and hockey games around and on Lake Accotink, at a time before the streams had eroded into gullies with steep banks. Our youngest volunteers, 3 daughters out with their fathers, often led the way, balancing on logs, roots and stones to cross the stream and find trash.
We noticed that most of the trash that we removed was plastic bags and styrofoam packing, which is particularly noxious, since it breaks down into tiny toxic particles that are almost impossible to remove from the water, eventually bioaccumulating back up the food chain through fish into the food we eat (more info here: http://5gyres.org/). Plastic drink containers were also present, but we found almost no metal cans or glass bottles. We speculated that much of the styrofoam and plastic had come from the industrial park on Port Royal road.
I was very impressed by the dedication and friendly willingness of all the Virginia Eagle Beverage volunteers - this was a cold morning for a clean-up! They found and removed a lot more trash than I'd expected, and we really enjoyed spending the morning together out in the woods.
On behalf of the Friends of Accotink Creek, our thanks to:
And lastly, but most importantly, our thanks to the Virginia Eagle volunteers! You were a great team to work with, and we're very grateful for your good work for the Accotink Watershed!
- November 23, 2014 | |