Volunteer with Us to Cleanup Lookout and Black Creek!
We are leading a volunteer-driven cleanup of Lookout Creek in partnership with our colleagues at the Tennessee River Rescue and we need your support! Lookout Creek runs along our 300-acre campus, which makes it a great spot to engage our volunteer force in some hands-on conservation work. This year, we are excited to work with our friends in Black Creek neighborhood to expand our clean up efforts and include Black Creek tributaries to make an even bigger impact. Support from Chattanooga Downtown Rotary and Tennessee American Water has helped make this cleanup effort a reality. Sign up to volunteer here now!
Did you know that the Tennessee River is among the nation’s most microplastic polluted waterways? Microplastics are defined as tiny pieces of various types of plastic less than 5 millimeters long. A 2019 study found nearly 18,000 microplastic particles per cubic meter of water in the Tennessee River. According to the study led by Dr. Andreas Fath and Dr. Martin Knoll, 84% of microplastics found were made of polyethylene- a plastic commonly used in the production of plastic bags. Another 16.8% was found to be polypropylene, which is used to make various types of plastic packaging.
Last year’s creek cleanup efforts resulted in a dumpster full of pollutants that otherwise would have remained lurking beneath the surface. While the majority of pollutants removed consist of various plastics, it isn’t uncommon to find some surprising items that have been improperly discarded into our waterways. Last year’s creek cleanup volunteers and staff uncovered a shopping cart, a Radio Flyer wagon, a six foot long speaker cover, ten golf balls, two basketballs, and a living room’s worth of carpet.
This yearly cleanup event has a huge, positive impact on our local ecology and the Chattanooga community. Clean waterways support the diverse, intricate ecosystems that our native plants and animals require to survive- including us! Lookout and Black Creek, as a part of the Tennessee River watershed, provides clean drinking water to the Chattanooga area and restoring it makes the water cleaner at the source. By cleaning up creeks and seasonal waterways, we hope to curb the introduction of additional microplastics and other pollutants into the waterways all of us earthlings rely on to thrive.