Volunteers at the Westfield River Watershed Assocation’s annual Source to Sea Cleanup pose with just a few of the items found along the river’s bank during the cleanup in 2022.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
WESTFIELD — On Saturday, Oct. 4, the Westfield River Watershed Association will hold its biannual cleanup of Westfield section of the Connecticut River watershed of the Westfield River and its streams and it needs volunteers to make a “significant difference.”
“The Westfield River and its watershed is so much cleaner than it used to be, largely thanks to our volunteers,” said Mark Damon, the president of the WRWA and coordinator of the cleanup. “But there’s still more that we can do. If you think globally and want to act locally — here’s your chance.”
“Our volunteers take a Saturday morning and use it to make a significant difference in our watershed,” Damon said.
For 70 years, the association has worked to clean the banks and the waters of the once-polluted Westfield River, and its improvement owes much to the association and those who volunteer each year for this coordinated effort.
While the Connecticut River Conservancy coordinated cleanup events on Sept. 26 in all four states that border the river, WRWA decided to delay its volunteer cleanups to later weekends, primarily because of the Big E.
Damon said volunteers in the Westfield area should show up at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, in the public parking lot at the end of Meadow Street near the Great River Bridges in Westfield.
The event will take place rain or shine, Damon said.
Becker explained the importance of the effort.
“Our watersheds are critical resources that must be protected and preserved,” she said. “A clean river is critical to biodiversity and clean water. If we don’t keep it clean no one else will, so please join us and unite with fellow river-lovers … it’s both fun and rewarding.”
The WRWA will hand out gloves, trash bags, and offer safety tips before sending the volunteer groups to targeted areas along the Westfield River, Damon said, adding that volunteers should expect to spend between three and four hours scouring for trash.
“We definitely make a difference. Decades ago, the river ran pink or yellow or green depending on the color of the dyes and chemicals being dumped into it. Now it’s swimmable,” Becker said. “We are always pleased to find that sites we return to are now so clean that it only takes a couple of people an hour or so to pick up the area, except for one thing.”
“The nip bottles are just horrendous these days. If we could get rid of those nips, cleanups would go even more quickly,” she said.
While made from plastic, it’s not widely known that nip bottles should not be thrown into recycling bins.
The reason is simple: they are too small. When taken to recycling facilities, the bottles fall out of the sorting machinery and ultimately end up in a landfill.
Damon said working on the cleanup can be memorable and enriching for groups and families.
“We’ll have small groups working at different sites along the river. When groups like families or teams volunteer, we keep them together,” said Damon, who teaches at Westfield State University and Holyoke Community College, and said he especially appreciates participation by students.
“Young adults are especially helpful in providing the muscle that we need to move some of the bigger items we find,” he said, with some of the large items that have been removed from the river and tributaries over the years, including tires, baby carriages, mattresses, bicycles and appliances.
“Almost anything can get dumped thoughtlessly — and illegally,” he said.
The association is part of the Connecticut River Conservancy, which sponsors the annual Source to Sea Cleanup, a volunteer network spanning four states that cares for the Connecticut River and its tributaries.
By cleaning up these sections of the watershed, it will help limit the amount of trash and pollution in the river, which flows into the Connecticut River and eventually into Long Island Sound.
The sites targeted for cleanup are not only in Westfield and Agawam, but also in Russell, Huntington and West Springfield. The WRWA also organizes a similar cleanup event annually in May.
“It’s a great cause — keeping our environment clean — and everyone is welcome,” Becker said. “Mostly we just clean up along the banks of our rivers and streams. The Westfield River always looks so good when we are done. So please join us and unite with fellow river-lovers…it’s both fun and rewarding.”
Assignments are generally completed about noon or 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome, but children must be supervised by an adult.
The nonprofit group was founded in 1953 to protect and improve the natural resources of the watershed, as well as expand recreational and other land use opportunities for people’s enjoyment and for sound ecology.
For questions or to register in advance for the Oct. 4 cleanup email Damon at markjdamon@gmail.com.
