Which is More Important: Clean Water or Clean Water?

I created this blog to talk about the importance of clean water and to talk about how one person can make a difference with patience, hard work, and a sustained effort. Many of you know I’m a marketer by trade, working for a small software company called SmartBear.

Recently, I attended the #Inbound13 conference in Boston, which is an event created by Hubspot where I learned about the work being done by Charity: Water.

I was impressed by Charity: Water’s mission and their ability to communicate the importance of clean water. For me, that message was a connection between my marketing life and my personal passion, so it really hit home. Sure, we all know we need clean water to sustain life and prevent disease. However, I never realized that young women are primarily responsible for collecting water for the family. In many cases, they spend their day walking miles carrying heavy jugs of dirty, contaminated water. It’s dangerous, difficult, and comes at a heavy price. Because this is a daily chore, they cannot go to school.

Simply by supplying clean water, you allow a village or a region to be healthier and make it possible for the women to become educated, and education is the only way to overcome poverty. Many of you also know I have a daughter, and were in not for circumstance, that could be her. Instead, she’s preparing for college, something most of those girls could never dream of.

As your child heads back to school, I encourage you to watch this video about the work Charity: Water is doing and donate to their #september campaign.

Kayaking and Cleaning the Nashua River

I've had a little bit of spare time, so I've been spending a little more time cleaning up than usual. Last week I went to the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, MA. 

I've switched my set-up a little bit these days. I used to have a laundry basket in the front and have the rear deck clear to carry tires to larger items. Now, most of those large items are gone, so I focus on the ability to carry more trash. A laundry basket in front for recyclables, and a basket in the back for trash seems to do the trick, and save me some time sorting out once back on land.

I paddled downstream to near Rt. 2. While it is only about 3 miles or so, I did manage to fill both baskets, but there was still a bit more to collect. I kept moving and came across an old container like to might use for mail. I made some room on the deck and found I had more capacity for storage. I didn't get every bit of trash between Depot Rd. and Rt. 2, but I did do a pretty good job. One more trip should do it.

Today I went over to the Nashua River on the Pepperell/Groton line. There were a lot of boaters, so that was good to see. I only wanted to spend a couple of hours so I could be back by Noon or so. I paddled back up to where the boathouse is, and then back. 

I was happy there was little trash, only about half a basket. I'm always encouraged when there isn't a lot of new trash. There's always some, but I think when the rivers are clean, people notice and are perhaps a bit more careful. But when they are dirty, no one cares. 

Tsunami Waste Washing Ashore

I often blog about the effort to try to keep the Nashua River clean - at least from trash. I know there are others that put their efforts into keeping the river from further harm by development, chemicals, and wildlife management.
I recently read an article about the waste from Japan's Tsunami washing ashore on the west coast and how the U.S. should "brace" for it. I see it every day I paddle on my local rivers, another plastic bottle, another container of waste oil, another bucket of paint.
I think people lose sight of the fact that every day, your Dunkin Donuts coffee cup, water bottle, or beer can might wash into a basin, into a stream, into a river, and into an ocean. Wake up. I pull huge amounts of waste out of the rivers, most of it is water bottles. How ironic is that?
You have to buy bottled water because the local water isn't clean enough (in your opinion), yet when you choose to recreate at a park, river, or lake, you bring bottled water and throw the empty bottle back in the water you won't drink. Seriously?
Folks, the bottled water industry is a nightmare, top to bottom, left to right, it's bad. The petroleum required to power the plants, make the bottles, and distribute the product is ridiculous. And for what? So we can "look" healthy carrying around a bottle of water? That bottle is leaching chemicals into the water you bought because it is marketed as "pure". That bottle ends up choking out life in rivers, streams, and oceans. Guess what? That water with the cool glacier on the label came from the tap, just like at home. You didn't gain anything, and it cost you more. Test after test proves your tap water is better quality. If you believe your bottled water comes from a spring in some long-forgotten wilderness, you are way off the mark.
My point is this: You are drinking bottled water because you believe the water from your local rivers and lakes is unclean, yet you are throwing those bottles into your local rivers and lakes, this making them unclean. You are the cause and the solution. Stop buying bottled water, it's 100% unnecessary and doesn't make you look cool.

Nashua River - Earth Day

It's been a while since I've posted, but I have still been cleaning up the rivers when I get the opportunity. Earth Day was yesterday, but since I had prior obligations, I went out Saturday morning to my favorite spot - The Nashua River at The Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge.
I loaded the boat with 2 laundry baskets, grabbed my work gloves and headed upstream. I decided to go upstream either as far as I could go or until I thought I would have a full boat, whichever came first.
I made it up to the Bolton Flats area and found both the need to portage and the makings of a full cargo load, so I started loading the boat. I found a number of large plastic items like a sled, some milk crates, and some sort of ride-on toy. After wrapping a bungee, around them I started on the usual bottles and cans.
As I worked my way downstream, I found 2 car tires and rims. While I wouldn't normally overload the boat with 2 tires, 2 full baskets, and some other plastic items, I knew the low water level wouldn't last and some of these things might soon be out of reach.
It made quite a delicate balancing act out of the ride back, but in one trip I filled the rack on the truck and made a nice dent in the amount of debris.
Happy Earth Day!

Nashua River and Hazardous Waste

I've been collecting trash and whatever else I find on the rivers for about 6 years now. Each week I put trash by the curb, recycling every other week, and I am able to take the tires and propane tanks to my local recycling center, and they know what I'm doing so they let me get rid of those for free. But over time, I accumulate a lot of hazardous household materials.

In the past I would participate in the occasional town-wide hazardous waste days, which amounted to waiting in a long line of cars for hours then paying to dispose of whatever it was you had.

Recently, the Devens HHW (www.DevensHHW.com) opened, and having a shed full of used motor oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid, and a host of other unidentified gifts from the Nashua River, I went down there.

I had some correspondence with the director there, and fully expected an inconvenient experience. But when I arrived, I was greeted by the friendly staff, they inquired about what I had, and did all the work. I of course, asked whether they could cut me a break because a good deal of what I has was obviously from the river, but they're independently funded and had no such provisions.

I gladly paid to be rid of the materials (and have some space in my shed back) and I was off. But basically I paid someone else's disposal fee. It wasn't a fortune, my bill was $60, so about $30 would have been for the river stuff. I'd asked the Nashua River Watershed Association if they had any such programs to help volunteers, but sadly, no.

So here's a question for the readers. Would any corporations be willing to create a small fund for the disposal of waste pulled from rivers. I'm not quite sure how the whole thing would work, but perhaps the funds could be used at the discretion of the DevensHHW and other facilities. I might think a company like @CleanHarbors would be interested. Any takers?

Kayak Season Opener

Well it was a long winter with everything freezing solid just after Thanksgiving and so much snow, the boat ramps were in accessible, but the season is finally here. Sure, I'd been out once in March, but I consider this past weekend the true beginning of the season.

I made 2 trips. On Saturday, I went to the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, MA. I chose to go upstream from the landing to see the state of things. Overall, not too bad. There are a couple of good sized piles about a mile up, and I worked on those, but I think in general, it's less than most years.

On Sunday, I did a combination bike/kayak trip leaving my bicycle at Rte. 117 and putting in at the site of the old bridge on Rt. 70. There's a new sign saying that it will be the future site of a canoe launch. That will be great, as that's a tough spot to drag your boat through. There was plenty of materials on this stretch, but the current was really strong so a few areas would have been dangerous to try to clean up, and a lot of debris was pushed up over the banks. There was one portage, so there is one large blow-down to cut through at some point.

All in all, great start to what I hope will be a long season of paddling.

Habitat for Humanity Day with The Pedowitz Group

Hi folks, Many of you know I switched jobs at the beginning of the year, I moved from Brainshark to The Pedowitz Group. I don't really use this blog to write about work, but this is a little bit of an exception.

Today, I'm joining the Pedowitz team in Atlanta, GA to work with Habitat for Humanity. It's great to work with an organization that is committed to giving back.

I'll take some pictures and hope to share those with you later.

Trash Paddler

Nice to see my Assabet River counterpart, the Trash Paddler is still at it, as am I. I realized I hadn't posted anything since spring. I'll post some more photos soon, but if you have time, check out what the Trash Paddler is doing.

Earth Day

I’d like to see Earth Day moved to a fixed day like the 3rd Saturday of April, for instance. I think when it falls on a weekday that leaves people to think that they missed it. Well Earth Day is pretty much every day for me so I don’t really pay it much attention.
Saturday I did one of my regular semi-annual projects. I take my wheelbarrow and walk up my street to the town forest and collect trash along the way. It’s probably only about a mile or so of road, but it’s a common littering spot.
The wheelbarrow was full and I headed back to the house by 8:30, then I took my daughter to her Earth Day fundraiser on the town common and went kayaking.
I hadn’t been to the Oxbow at Depot Rd. yet this year and wanted to check up on it. When I go there, an officer from the environmental police showed up. We chatted for a few minutes about the state of the river and what needs to be done. He said there are only about 70 officers state-wide. I was surprised, figuring it would take many more than that.
He went on to explain that they really don’t focus on the illegal dumping sort of stuff – which probably makes up a significant part of what I am dealing with. Rather, they focus on the businesses that violate the laws as there’s money to go after. They also don’t spend any time on the rivers.
Anyway, I paddled downstream toward Rt. 2 to find out what the condition of that stretch of river was. Not bad, on the whole. When I got near Rt. 2 there were 3 tires, but other than those, there were mostly just bottles and cans. I piled a tire on the stern and then tried something I hadn’t – I put another tire on the bow – a tricky maneuver, but it worked. I had to balance the laundry basket on the rear tire, so for the remainder of the trip I had to be cautious about that.
I only made the 1 trip as my shoulder’s been sore and I had a number of other things to do, but next time I know what to expect. All in all, the Oxbow’s not in bad shape – a bit of a surprise considering all the flooding we’ve had.

Nashua River - Flood Stage

I went out on the Nashua River saturday - technically I guess it is at flood stage. It was very fast - when I went from Pepperell to Rt. 225, the water was doing something I'd not seen before.
Looking at the river from the downstream side of the 225 bridge, there were rapids. Not huge rapids, but waves with white water. Very strange for that part of the river. Just upstream from that the water was unusually fast - virtually impossible to paddle upstream. So, I got to hit the rapids downstream ;-)
All in all, still a good day, some new debris, and I picked up a good bit of it, but always more - especially when there is flooding like there has been.
Well, looks like more rain on the way, we'll see what that brings.

Kayak Season Opener

I declare kayak season is open! Yesterday I put in on the Nashua River at the Pepperell/Groton line. The water was still pretty high from the previous week's rains, but not too bad.
I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of trash... typically after a flood, there's a ton of trash in the river, but not this time. I paddled from Pepperell up to the Boathouse and back and only collected one basket full of trash. No tires. No hazardous or nasty stuff. Just some bottles and cans and cups.
Nice day, the river's in good shape, and kayak season is here... all is right with the world.

Heavy rain means heavy trash

Saturday I went out on the Nashua River to do my usual thing - not sure how long til the river's frozen, so every opportunity counts.
The recent heavy rains swelled the river and that always means more trash - or more trash shifting downstream. It was a beautiful day though - a little light mix of snow and sleet. The river's so quiet in the Winter.

New Presentation on myBrainshark

Check out the new product from Brainshark - it's a free way to share your presentations online. It's kind of like slideshare or youtube, but you can combine whatever media you have and you can add your voice. Check out the one I did for the Nashua River Watershed clean-up stuff I've been doing:

Social Media and the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

I had a very cool experience today. I was doing my usual thing, picking up trash, and a couple of guys passed by and one said "Hey, are you the guy with the website?" I said I did have a blog, and he mentioned how he'd emailed me a little while ago. Very cool!
But the story gets better - as I continued, I filled the boat, emptied the contents at the boat ramp into my truck, and continued downstream.
I saw those 2 guys again, kind of wondering why I had caught up with them, when I noticed they were in a logjam trying to get a tire onto the kayak! They asked for a tip, but figured it out anyway. They had their boats so loaded with trash!
So Steve and Dave - thanks a bunch! I really appreciate the effort, and you really made my day!
-Ed

Updated Merrimack River Scavenger Hunt Date

The Scavenger Hunt has been changed to July 25th.
http://www.cleanriverproject.com/

Scavenger Hunt Date Changed to July 11

Help out the Merrimack River Clean River Project on their scavenger hunt! http://www.cleanriverproject.com/

Nashua River Ecoli Count

Stay in your boat! The Nashua telegraph just reported some results of ecoli testing after this long stretch of rain. Ecoli count is supposed to be below 88 for swimming - Pepperell launch tested at 1000.
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090624/NEWS01/906249886/-1/XML07

And... if you see kids swimming or jumping off the bridge - do them a favor and tell them please!!

Nashua River - getting better

Just a quick post about this year - the river is looking better than any year recently. I'm very pleased with the condition. I do need to look at where the small island is about a mile above the 2nd rt. 117 crossing and between 117 and the Oxbow, but I worked those late in the season last year so I'm hoping for good things.
Otherwise between 119 and the Oxbow in Harvard looks decent - a couple runs and we're clear.

Kayaking in the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday was a gorgeous day so Nancy and I went for a paddle in the Oxbow in Harvard, MA. We headed downstream toward Rt. 2. It wasn't in bad shape, but I figured I'd get to the end of our paddle before filling my basket.
North of Rt. 2 I started picking up stuff - mostly a piece here or there. As we headed back, I grabbed a tire and some of the stuff that looked most hazardous - paint, motor oil, that kind of stuff.
There wasn't that much stuff overall - maybe 2 more tires and a few baskets of trash - hopefully in another week or two we can get back and clean it all up.
We ran into a group of 4 guys who do a trip down the river each year - it was their 30th year. They were very appreciative of the effort - maybe they remember what the river was like only 5 years ago, this month, when this story began.

Nashua River - 2A to the Ice House Dam

Saturday I had the chance to go for a paddle so I chose a place that others generally don't prefer to put in since I was by myself. Rt. 2A at the Nashua is covered with Poison Ivy and long grass that's ideal for ticks. Aside from that, it's a good launch point to clean up below the dam in Shirley.
I paddled upstream althought the current was stiff, and made it up to just below the train bridge - then it gets to fast and shallow to keep going upstream. I collected a little less than a basket full of trash, I was a bit surprised how little there was - maybe all this is starting to pay off?
Since I wasn't fully loaded and I don't like to give up unless I collect a tire or 2, I headed downstream and up the Squannacook River. At the joining of the two in a logjam I spotted a tire, but it was a truck tire - as in a tractor-trailer sized tire.
I noticed it was not lodged in so I wiggled it free and wrestled it onto the tree I was stopped at. After draining most of the water out I then rolled it down the tree to my kayak and flopped it on the deck. I thought I was gonna swamp my poor little boat! But I managed to get it situated, balance the rest of the garbage and very gingerly slide myself in.
Wow was that tire heavy! The boat was so unstable that several times I thought I was going to swamp. I did manage to get it back to the launch, unload it and drag it back to the truck - through the poison ivy of course. But it's out of there and fortunately it was not a long distance from the launch point - I'm glad I chose that stretch to work on.