Earth Day

For whatever reason, paddlers seem to see lots of the horrors visited on our planet by our fellow man.  Particularly river paddlers - storms can cause rushing water to flush trash laying around into the rivers..  I have many times seen paddlers who go out for a paddle with a lunch, some rain gear, lifejackets and a few empty trash bags.  When they return, the bags are nearly full.    It's sad that people are such slobs to start with when it's easy to find a trash or recycling can and put things where they belong. 

That's just the visible trash.

Rivers, lakes and oceans have long been looked at as open sewers - whatever gets into the water will go away, right?  No - it doesn't.  Companies like GE have been working to clean rivers, lakes and land of chemicals that were dumped years and years ago.  It's unlikely that the rivers will ever be truly clean and safe again.

So, if you're out paddling and see trash floating in the river or as you're passing - stop - pick it up and properly dispose of it.  You won't have to see the trash the next time you're paddling there and neither will others.