I Love a Good Hardworking Group

I worked more than usual this week in order to accompany a lovely church group who was taking part in The Timothy Project. The Timothy Project is a project that puts church groups with non-profit organizations, and together the two do whatever is needed in order to build a better community. This week I worked with Aiken's First Baptist Church Group, from Aiken, South Carolina. I did not expect such a large group to come up to work with us, but I was happy with the diversity in the age range, and the diversity in personalities. They were all friendly, lovely, and driven people who helped us clean up the Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers.

For the first day, we had them clean the river, the second we cleared space for a community garden (which included clearing invasive species and picking up trash), and then for the final two days were river clean ups. After the first river clean up, there were people who were excited to do it again later on, because they had to work with a non-profit organization twice at most. There were even some people who wished they could do it more than twice.

What I really enjoyed about this group was that they knew how to get stuff done. They cleaned so much from the rivers, and I was impressed by the amount of tires they managed to help pull out, which was way more than any other group that I have worked with (about thirty tires total in one day). There were gas tanks from cars pulled out, a mattress, and even a toilet. I am surprised with some of the interesting things these people helped pulled out, and I was really impressed with their integrity. There was no drama, and no fuss. They were all around a five out of five volunteer group.

One of them even sharpened some of our knives, how nice!

There's a Snake in my Boat

On wednesday Aiken's First Baptist Church returned with a large group we went down the French Broad River looking for trash to dig up. This group was very enthusiastic and by the time we had reached the first drop-off spot they had collected chaisse lounges and old washing machines that people had left to sink into the mud.

We regrouped at the drop-off spot (called Zen Tubing) for a quick lunch and then quickly departed once more down the river. Before we had gotten very far, however, Conor and I stopped at small bank to dig up a rather entrenched tire. After struggling with the task for at least five minutes we managed to use our shovels as a wedge with which to pull out the tire. We were then confronted with an even more difficult chore, getting the tire from the bank and into our boat. We had done this a few times with other tires, which had been heavy but capable of being lifted. This tire, however, was filled with thick mud and roots at every spot, making it far heavier than it had been before. In order to make it lighter we began using our hands to dig out the mud, which turned out to be a pretty good idea. We were soon able to lift the tire into our boat, only to see a long snake slither out of the mud in the tire. It appeared that this snake had been lying inside the mud and we had released it with our digging. The snake began moving around our boat as if it was attempting to find a way from which to escape; Conor and I merely stood there trying to figure out how to get the snake out, for neither of us were brave enought to reach in and pick the snake up. Finally, two members from the church came around and apparently had no problem with snakes. They quickly grabbed the snake and three it onto the bank, where it safely slithered away. -Gmo

River Clean Up Season

It's summer time! So that means it's time for Asheville GreenWorks to put their canoes in the water and dig out some trash. The season is really kicking it off, picking up a lot of trash and tires from the Swannanoa River and the French Broad River.

On Saturday, I picked up so many tires, that I had to straddle a big tire in between my legs as I rowed the canoe to the spot where we would take out (and where I would then become comfortable again). I noticed many people (who were just tubing for fun) would look over at me and smile and laugh, but I did not think much of it. My attitude towards clean-ups has molded into one that follows a motto, "Leave No Tire Behind."

Today I was with Aiken First Baptist Church Group (from Aiken, South Carolina), and with some of the Asheville GreenWorks staff, a number total of thirteen people were on the river. It was a big group but I enjoyed pulling out a mattress out of the river with them. They were all very nice, and helped clean up and put the canoes away (which to me means a lot).

A common occurrence that I have seen happen time and time again is that people will look at all the trash we would either be hauling at that moment or look at all of the trash that we put in a collective pile, then glance over at us, and genuinely tell us "Thank you." It keeps me energized and motivated to keep going, even when I am feeling out of it. The power of gratitude is a great thing.

I'm excited to see what else happens during the week.

Written by Stephanie Menjivar
Photographs by Eric Bradford

A Perfectly GreenWorks Start to Summer Vacation

My last day at school was three days ago. My motive to get through final exams was that summer would be on the other side, which for me, of course, means hauling tires out of a river with the gang. It wasn't long before I was reminded what summer was all about.

Eric texted me last night and let me know to show up the next morning in clothes that could get wet. I knew what that meant. Stephanie and I shoved off at about 11:00 with only a camera, a roll of trash bags, and a mission - we were to float from the office a few miles north to some park we were relatively certain started with a "w", bagging what trash we could and gathering photo evidence of what we couldn't for some poor volunteers (probably us again...) to get later on. However, we didn't really know how long of a trip we were in for or even what the park was supposed to look like.

Within minutes, we came upon several big patches of the bank strewn with bits and pieces of tires, clothes, and intriguingly inscrutable scraps of plastic and rusted metal. Stephanie and I hopped out and started picking up trash, but after retrieving two tires and filling a whole trash bag, we took a step back and saw a bank that didn't look noticeably cleaner. Concluding that this would be a job for a bigger group, we got back in the boat and continued on as before, taking a few pictures here and there and picking trash out of the mud in a handful of other places that caught our eye.

After a while of this, we began to suppose that surely we should be done soon. We saw a sign for Zen Tubing, so we paddled over and asked the people there if they knew how long it was to where we were headed. They kindly told us they had no idea. Stephanie called Eric, who said that we were in fact headed to Woodfin, which made us a solid third of the way through our voyage. Wonderful.

As one leaves Asheville, the French Broad starts to get decidedly swifter and rockier. There were multiple occasions over the next couple of hours that I wouldn't have bet on us making it out right side up, but somehow we kept ourselves and our precious trash inside the boat. We eventually came upon what was certainly a park. Whether it was the right park was a little more questionable, but we were too relieved to be back on solid ground to worry over details. We called Eric up and he came not long after and helped us load everything into the pickup. All that remained was for us to hop in the back and ride back to the office, all the while trying to hold the boat in and pray we wouldn't all slide overboard off the open bed.

It's gonna be a good summer.

The New Intern in Town

Hello! My name is Stephanie Menjivar, and I am from Encino, California. I go to college at Warren Wilson College as a Biomathematics major and I hope to go abroad and do wildlife conservation work in the future. My philosophy in life is to go with what you believe in, and then give as much as you can.

At Asheville GreenWorks I work as the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator as a part of the Bonner Internship Program, so I work with Eric Bradford when it comes to the preparation and the execution of events, so a lot of the people who volunteer will see me around a lot! I'm very excited working with everyone here, and despite how exhausting the work can be, I could not be more than happy to be working here. As Asheville approaches to become a greener city, there is still a lot that needs to be done, and Asheville GreenWorks actively keeps the city in that momentum, which motivated me to be a part of that action.

If anyone is interested in learning about my experience here at Asheville GreenWorks, please follow my blog at: http://environmentaladventures.tumblr.com/

The Man in the Yellow Vest

Who is this guy and why is he in that trash can??

Over the last 4 years lots of folks have seen the "Man in the Yellow Vest" digging through trash cans Downtown Asheville. His name is Bob DuRivage and we're proud to call him one of our Volunteers.

Bob's a passionate recycler and spends hours each week sorting out recyclables in the downtown garbage cans. Retired and fed up with our lack of adequate recycling receptacles. Bob took it upon himself one afternoon to sort out a couple trash cans, it's been his routine ever since.

Recently Bob's been sidelined from a knee injury from his many years of competitive tennis. But don't distress, Bob will be back in action soon. The next time you see him tearing through a can for that miss placed plastic water bottle, please take a moment to say "hello".

Interested in helping out with downtown recycling while Bob recovers? 

email: volunteer@ashevillegreenworks.org and Say "I'll take a shift for Bob"

Plastic Lifestyle

After several river cleanups with Asheville GreenWorks, I was shocked by what the team found in the Swannanoa River, Hominy Creek, and French Broad River. It was concrete evidence that our rivers and streams are the "dispose-all" for the earth. Most trash was intentional, like a shopping cart, pipes, radios, beer cans, and the endless amount of car tires. But some trash seemed unintentional, like plastic shopping bags, food wrappers, and plastic bottles. One source for this uncontrollable trash is rain runoff created by the many impervious surfaces in Asheville. I noticed plastic bags hanging in the trees and plastic  bottles scattered along the riverbank, most likely the result of the high water levels our rivers experienced from Asheville's rainy summer. People need to realize that our waterways are all one big conveyor belt to our oceans. One can start combating this problem by not using plastic bags or bottles because even if you are not deliberately polluting our rivers, using those items promotes the chance of it happening. Help Asheville GreenWorks' effort to stop trash from leaving our watershed by eliminating as much plastic from your life as possible!

-Christine

More Tires Than Boats

In the summer months, we scout the waterways for future river cleanups. Each time it rains the waterways change, new strainers and trash appear. On these outings, we're also on the lookout for illegal dumping, straight piping and hazards for other paddlers.

On Monday's scouting mission, we uncovered a nest of submerged tires on Section 5 of the Swannanoa River (just down from Biltmore)  Being on a scouting mission, we had only the one canoe. Undaunted we pulled so many tires from the water that we overloaded the one canoe and were forced to beach the tires until we could come back with reinforcements.

American Sycamore reaching across the Swannanoa River

Flash forward to today's outing, 4 people, 3 canoes and strapping gear. We weren't leaving without those tires. After paddling down to the nest we lashed the boats together, then loaded the trash and tires.

Going to a better place (the recycler)

In all we pulled out the remaining 17 tires (and other trash) and made a positive dent in the water quality of the Swannanoa River. Fun Fact, tires contain heavy metals and under the right circumstances say buried in a river, the tires will photodegrade, sloughing off layers of vulcanized rubber and harmful heavy metals into the water. GreenWorks Volunteers haul out around 2,000 tires from our rivers and streams each year. Clearly tire dumping is still a major problem in Buncombe County.

The Trimaran (trash barge) at Jean Webb Park

After unloading the tires and garbage at Jean Webb Park, we packed up the gear and headed for a late lunch at El Chapala in Biltmore.

Another very tiring (bad pun) day with the GWorks. 

One of Those Days

     I once read a book that kept changing its perspectives; just as I was settling into a narrator's perspective, I was jarringly shot backward or forward in time into a different perspective and a different narrator, and I had to begin putting the pieces together all over again. My English teacher called this great literature. I called it a royal pain in the ass. A matter of perspective, I suppose.
     The perspective part is what's key here. This blog is written by four different interns, and when we work in a group, we all share different takeaways; we remember different victories, different trials, nettles of pride and determination with each expedition. Thusly, when combined, I suspect we make a quirky sense of a whole. Today's post is a combination of perspectives. 

     Today, we took our canoes down the French Broad River to collect garbage left by litterers. After our very exciting adventure of collecting nets, and tires, and cans, and bottles, we made our way back up the French Broad. After five minutes of realizing that paddling wasn't taking us anywhere up the current, it was decided we'd walk the canoes up the rest of the way until we crossed back to the office on the other side. I've never been so tired in my life. --Sami

     Today, Eric tasked us with cleaning a tributary of the French Broad just downstream from our new offices; Emma creek. We set off from the boat launch that we'd built the day before and set off. We landed on the debris caught on the blocked trestle (dead possum, anyone?) before attenting to our primary project. All of this was relatively routine and uneventful; the real challenge came when we tried to turn around and make our way back upstream.
     After nearly flipping on the first rapid at the mouth of Emma, we pulled our boats to the bank and tried to approach the problem by tugging the boats along the edge of the water. We eventually had to combine all four of us to one boat or bail water out after nearly capsizing. After a strenuous hour and a half, we finally reach the end of the stretch that had been a ten minute float downstream, and hauled our laden boats onto the launch where we'd begun.
     And the day was barely half over. --Connor S.

     Personally, I think Eric gets a kick out of shaping us interns by sending us on projects that stick us between a rock and a hard place, knowing full well we can probably handle it. River cleanups I know; wear chackos, be prepared to get wet, and rip as much trash out of the river as we can to fill our canoes. Usually, that's pretty straightforward; we just float on downstream. Today not so much.
     The four of us pushed off from our beach at the office and floated for the Norfolk Southern trestle south of us; Styrofoam, bottles, a tube (still good enough for a float), and a dead possum that we didn't know what to do with. After that, we hauled out tires and bumped over a rapid into Emma, where we started hauling out tire shingles, tires screwed to what was left of an old bridge, pieces of a pipe, pliwood, and evermore tires.
     Walking upstream is hard enough when the French Broad is low; it's rocky, with sandbars, undercurrents, and random dropoffs, not to mention the snapping turtles we saw sliding into the water as we scrambled up the side. We ducked under trees, spiders crawling in our hair and and floundered in the deep ends with the canoes floating full of trash behind us. Getting past the rapid almost flipped one of our boats, and I had to backtrack to help them haul it through the first bit.
     Before we started, we had well established the trestle was a big problem; how do we get past fast flowing water between bridge supports if we can't get past a rapid three inches tall? The answer lies in engineers. When they built the bridge, they left a ledge about three inches wide three and a half feet underwater, out of sight. That's how we got past the bridge; we couldn't walk between the supports because the water had carved out the bottom, but one of us standing in front on that three inch walkway and another pushing behind with two paddling, we hauled through those rapids, dragged over a rock, beneath a sleeping bag, over a deep end, and then we cut across back to our beach.
     I love engineers, but walking upstream is a trip either way. --Julia

Discovery on the Hominy Creek

      Tuesday, June 4

began with a regular scout of Hominy Creek. Eric Bradford, volunteer leader Bob Ruddy and I set out that morning intending to determine whether an upper section of Hominy Creek was passable for volunteer groups. This didn’t turn out to be a hard question to answer. After hauling our boats up onto a steep bank and back down to avoid a rocky impasse, being forced to stop in multiple places to saw away at fallen trees blocking our way, drifting through a construction site, and getting stuck on a pipe built straight across the river, not only were we all sure this was not suitable for less experienced volunteers, Bob and I were practically begging Eric to call it quits when possible. By three o’clock, we were barely halfway through the section with the worst ahead of us and no foreseeable way out until we could manage to reach the Hominy Creek River Park much later that night.

      Imagine our surprise, then, when our adventure was interrupted by the sight of a rail-thin calf shifting uneasily along an eroded bank. I thought little of it until Eric said, “Well, looks like we may be saving a calf today.” This gave me an unsure glimmer of hope; I thought maybe this would just be another delay, dragging out our excursion even further, but there was also the chance this could be my escape.

      We climbed up the bank onto the pasture above and Eric checked the GPS on his phone, and realized that, against all odds, this was in fact the property of Mike Crowell, with whom he was well acquainted. Eric called Mike, beginning a short wait which I chose to occupy by fretting over whether one of the cows in the pasture would hear the calf’s whimpers and feel the need to “protect” it at our expense. Fortunately, the farmer came before too long to haul the the calf up the bank by its ears. We all hopped into his truck, I with the calf straddled across my lap, and left.

      According to the farmer, the calf had most likely been born the day before, had never eaten, and would have died the next day. However, he said he would be able to get the calf some formula and save it. Eric did let us call it a day; even so, it was already 5:00. As we were leaving, Eric remarked it may be a while before he ate beef again.

Got Tree?

Today, a three year old asked me what environmentalism was, and I told him that it was like keeping his room tidy, restoring things to a better sense of order, cleaning up the messes made by the use of the land, and maintaining that tidiness. The thing is, 'environmentalism' -as we like to call it- is a messy, fiery, grueling process with a definition that is different for every individual. But you can't explain that to a three year old.

As for those of us that aren't three, what is environmentalism? Is it sitting in a hundred year old redwood as loggers look on; buying organics at the grocer's store or choosing energy star products (tax benefits included); maybe it's a bunch of dirty hippies who don't use deodorant (and should) protesting business deregulations that encourage foreign business investments. Either way you slice it, Environmentalism is the study of the use of the world's resources.

For me, that means conserving, reusing, and carefully allocating new resources. But then again, I was raised by recovering hippies who have only just begun to be respectable middle class citizens. Environmentalism has very gritty, dirty images included in my definition; raw sapling trees dripping mud on my hands as I scramble up a riverbank and plant it, tires pressing raw edges against my shoulders as I slip and slide through mud, and the smell of compost in local lunchrooms (believe it or not, someone does actually sort those, and it's usually me).

So whether you're an environmentalist or not, I strongly advise that you plant a tree. Maybe in your back yard, perhaps in that abandoned lot next door, or even in front of your offices to spruce things up in the spring. It doesn't make you an environmentalist, but it does put you on the side of the land, and defines you as a champion for free oxygen (which trees produce for me and you) - Conor 

On Digging Holes...

     The thing about holes is that they tend to fill up, whether it be with dirt, rock, litter, or in today's case, mud. One of my projects this week was a tree-planting at our soon to be offices, with hole-digging and planting staggered over a few days, and the rain decided to cooperate by pro-actively filling my nicely dug spot to the brim with water.

     Mud slogging, finger digging, jean-staining mess ensued, with one dogwood in the ground and a redbud waiting to be planted. Word of advice: don't plant a tree in a hole filled with water. They don't like it that much, and good luck trying to bail that sucker out. So, when you dig a hole, fill it quickly, before mother nature finds some nefarious purpose for it that's probably pretty messy.

     Now, if you happen to dig yourself a hole and have no intention of filling it, then don't count yourself lucky yet; water does not count as proper filling, and it'll take years of filling before it's done.

     In other words, if you're going to plant a tree, do it like these guys, in the sunshine. 

Eric Bradford (Volunteer Coordinator & all around awesome guy) & Win Southworth (long-time volunteer) planting a tree.

The Ruckus Ensues

     Being an intern has the unique ability to suck, enlighten, demean, and inspire its victim. That being said, I highly recommend it to anyone considering the possibility of interning. The experiences and skills learned as an intern are irreplaceable, and the responsibility provides an insight with which to study one's self. But that's a lot of fluff and introspective that no one really cares about.

     There are three of us interning with Asheville GreenWorks -a 501(c)3 environmental non-profit located in Asheville, North Carolina-, and we all three have different views, but here is mine: it's a very dirty job, and we do it for a great cause.

     As interns, we're involved in all the GreenWorks things, (Curious?) but we're also there behind the scenes at board meetings, sitting round tables brainstorming fund raisers, and staying after cleanups to repair broken tools and sort the bags of trash. This blog -in theory- is a way for us to talk to you, but also a way for us to reflect on just what it is we're doing everyday, because when you're down and dirty in the muck, it's kind of hard to see the garden you've been planting. Or whatever it is we're planting; at this rate, it must be one monstrous garden.