National River Clean-Up Day May 21 2011

So much crud gets dumped into, thrown into, blown into, or washed into our creeks and rivers! Every year, volunteers now assemble to haul it all out. This year, after several years of work, this stretch of Canoas Creek in San Jose looked almost pristine. A dozen volunteers hauled out only a few small bags of garbage after two hours of work. Most common: Nasty plastic bags! (San Jose is banning them soon.) Next, snack wrappers. Next, broken glass. And only a few recyclables. But lots of balls! Go figure.