Eli Patterson, 11, of Woodridge, knew he had a busy morning ahead of him this past Saturday in St. Charles and made sure he didn’t leave the house before powering up with his favorite breakfast.
“I’m ready. I’m excited to do this. I had Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and when I leave here I’m going to be looking for trash,” Eli said as he and more than 30 Cub Scouts from Pack 511 in Woodridge prepared to take part in the sixth annual It’s Our Fox River Day clean-up effort along the river.
“The last time we came we found a bunch of golf balls and I know that’s not good,” he said. “But if I see a bunch of crazy, different things I’ll get rid of them.”
The Friends of the Fox River group, along with an army of volunteers, once again staged the clean-up and restoration event along the waterway.
The annual effort, organizers said, “is a watershed-wide celebration dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of the Fox River and promoting environmental stewardship.”
Gary Swick, president of the Friends of the Fox River, said that more than a dozen communities along the river had proclamations read in honor of It’s Our Fox River Day.
“We probably have a little less than 50 locations but some, like St. Charles, are big,” he said of this year’s clean-up. “We typically have nine locations in the city alone.
“Last year, we had over 1,000 participants along the waterway that took part,” he said.
Swick said there was a time “back in the day” when debris found in the river “was rear ends of cars and refrigerators.”
“But now, it’s plastic straws and cups and bottles which are maybe even worse, so it’s hard to get a number of how much trash is collected,” he said. “These items are more harmful and can break into tiny, tiny pieces and now we’re getting in microplastics.”
Swick stressed that the day “was not all about clean-up either as we have paddling events, educational events and special things as well.”
“This is about celebrating that we are fortunate enough to have this river,” he said.
Swick said he does see a change in environmental awareness but added that because the river level is low this year “there’s going to be a lot more things exposed that we haven’t seen since maybe 2012.”
“But it’s really a great problem when you go to do a clean-up and you can’t find much,” he said. “People are disappointed but it’s a reason to celebrate. But we have a lot more people impacting the river in a lot more ways. If you want to find litter you just go where people go from anglers to picnicking.”
Ferson Creek Park in St. Charles was one of the sites in St. Charles that held clean-up efforts where Swick and well more than 60 volunteers arrived by 9 a.m. Saturday.
Carol Cummins of St. Charles said this was her first time coming out and that she and her husband “are both naturalists and this is a good way to give back.”
“We love the Earth and we want to take care of it,” she said. “I don’t mind getting a little muddy. I’m prepared. We love taking hikes in all the parks and this is an investment too in our leisure time.”
Beth Schwinjel of St. Charles said this was also her first time working on the clean-up effort.
“When there are problems here, my husband and I do a lot of kayaking on the river so we see it from that perspective. I haven’t seen anything big like doors but you do see wildlife – sometimes they get caught up in the trash,” she said. “We just want to keep our river clean.”
Jessica Bridges, also of St. Charles, said she and her family were happy to help out at the event Saturday.
“We got up early – we’ve got our gloves, we’ve got our boots and we’re geared up,” she said. “I see this as a good lesson for our daughter Lily and it’s important to keep things clean so we can enjoy them.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
