Hiram – Dozens of Hiram College students will roll up their sleeves, slip on gloves and waders and board canoes to pick up trash from the Cuyahoga River and Eagle Creek on Sunday, April 24 from 1-5 p.m.
While the Cuyahoga River has not caught on fire in decades, it has been trashed – literally — with everything from floating tires to Styrofoam balls embedded in its banks.
“The Cuyahoga River is emblematic of environmental degradation because it caught on fire,” says Sarah Mabey, associate professor of environmental studies at Hiram College, referring to the fateful June 1969 day.
Though the task of cleaning a river – one paper cup, one tangle of abandoned fishing line at a time — may seem daunting and endless, Mabey, who is spearheading the river and creek cleaning effort, sees the action as hopeful.
The river cleanup is one of three activities the Hiram College of Environmental Studies Department will host in tribute to Earth Day, April 22. An Earth Day Fair will take place from noon to 5 p.m. on the Hiram campus. Free and open to the public, the event features crafts, food, music, education and hands-on activities related to protecting the environment.
Wrapping up the three-day celebration, CNN Hero of the Year, Chad Pegracke, founder of Living Lands & Waters and author of One Man’s Crusade to Clean America’s Rivers will present free lectures at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Hiram College’s Kennedy Center.
For more details about these events visit http://www.hiram.edu/sustainability/events.
