15th Annual Spokane River Cleanup - Sept 15

Saturday, September 15, 2018

The 15th Annual Spokane River Clean-Up is September 15, 2018

 

Last year, 824 volunteers cleaned up 6,160 pounds of garbage and 500 pounds of recyclables (that's over 3 TONS!) from Nine Mile Falls to the Spokane Valley. 
 
The Annual Spokane River Clean-Up is a great chance to give back for the great recreational opportunities our river corridor provides all year long! Registration for this year’s event is now open at www.spokanerivercleanup.org, so sign up today!

 

Sign Up!

 

The Spokane River Clean-Up is made possible by the service of about 100 “key” volunteers who go the extra mile to make the clean-up effective, efficient, safe, and fun.  If you would like to play a leadership role in this year’s River Clean-Up, here are some of the ways you can help:

  • Team Leader – Two Team Leaders work with their “Conehead” in each clean up area. Team Leaders meet up with their groups of about 45 volunteers at 9:00 am., on the day of the event (September 15), lead them to the right clean up areas, and make sure volunteers put the trash and recyclables in the right places for pick-up. Team Leaders also carry extra supplies and are our first link in reporting situations that require special response or assisting with minor first aid. Team Leaders start work at 9:00 and are finished up by noon.
  • Coneheads – The “Conehead” serves as the main point of contact in a cleanup area, and supports the team leaders in that area. Coneheads have extra garbage bags and supplies for the volunteers and Team Leaders, make sure garbage and recyclables are left in the right areas for pick-up, report incidents to our Incident Commander, handle minor incidents, and communicate with the Driver in their area if there are larger recyclable items or other unusual stuff that needs to be transported. Coneheads are on the job from about 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. This is a position that can be filled by a person with limited mobility.
  • Drivers  – If you have a pick-up truck and would like to volunteer, this position involves driving a circuit of clean-up areas between 9:30 am and 1:00 pm picking up recyclables for delivery to a sorting station. You’ll also help our Coneheads set up in the morning and work with them to keep things running smoothly. Drivers cover a specific route multiple times during the morning. This position requires some heavy lifting.  
  • Shotguns – The “Shotgun” rides with a Driver and helps load recyclables into the truck and unload them for sorting. This position requires some heavy lifting.
  • Other roles: we can always use a hand before and after the clean-up to help with set-up and take-down, handing out bus passes, helping with coffee service, or staffing the bike corral. If you’d like to help out in these less formal ways, please let us know.

Key volunteers should plan to attend an orientation meeting on Tuesday, September 11th at 6:00 pm at Mountain Gear HQ in Spokane Valley. You will learn our system for making things run smoothly and how to respond to any situation you may encounter. We’ll buy you dinner during the meeting, which typically lasts about 1.5 hours.
 
The Spokane River Clean-Up is a fun and important event that has a huge impact on our river and its surroundings.  If you are interested in volunteering for a key role, please contact Lindsay Box at (509) 209-2851 or lbox@landscouncil.org.