Events and Activities : R.A.T.S. Preparing for Annual Clean Up

Tami Stark 7/30/18 For the past 9 years, a group of area core volunteers have organized and conducted a clean up project for the Benton County portion of the Cedar River, alternating the top portion and the bottom portion from year to year. This project has involved as many as 50 and as few as 23 volunteers from Vinton and surrounding areas. Many local businesses pitch in and donate enough goods and services that the group has been able to provide all supplies needed, a home cooked lunch and an event shirt to each volunteer. These goods and services range from donated trash bags, dumpsters and landfill fees to water, food and gloves! Because the efforts of this clean up project align with the mission of the Izaak Walton League, our local chapter has been the key sponsor of this project for several years, supporting us financially as well as providing some volunteers. With them, we hope to continue to raise awareness of the importance of water conservation and preservation. This year the lean up falls on Saturday, August 11th starting at 9:00 AM at the Park ramp in Vinton and finishes up at Wildcat Park in Shellsburg. Volunteers of all kinds are needed. You don’t have to be on the water if you aren’t comfortable there. If you have an hour in the morning, help is needed moving vehicles from the start point to the end location so the ‘on the water’ RATS don’t need to worry about getting back to their vehicles. We also need a few donations of homemade treats, chips and plates/cutlery. Every little thing adds up to be a big thing in a project like this. People are curious about what types of trash are in our Cedar River and that is an excellent question to ask. Our volunteers will tell you that we have pulled the ‘obvious’ things from the Cedar, such as tires, barrels and plastic, but we’ve also pulled quite a bit of unordinary things from the Cedar as well. Things like, water heaters, air tanks, propane tanks, a safe, a fully intact picnic table and a few years ago, a couch! While all of this definitely counts as successful, perhaps the 2 most common items (after plastic) are broken glass pieces and metal/aluminum cans. These items turn up on sandbars year after year when the water rolls the sand around, uncovering year’s worth of ‘remnants’. Whatever we can recycle, we do. Bob Busler travels with our group and he takes all scrap metal and anything that can be salvaged. In addition to cleaning the banks of the Cedar, our mission is to educate the river enthusiasts on how to treat the banks and the water when they’re out there. We hope that by seeing what we pull from the river EVERY year, people will gain a real-time understanding of the impact that leaving trash behind can cause. Not just now, but for years to come. Take home what you take out. It’s that simple. For information on how you can sign up to help this year, call Tami @ 319-558-7476. We hop to see you on the 11th!