Participants got a Georgia Rivers Alive t-shirt for helping clean up this sand-slope party spot on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman to organizing, and to Shirley Kokidko and an anonymous for picking up trash along with Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

This was at Mayday Landing, 749 Howell Road, Stockton, GA 31649. left bank, east side of the Alapaha River, south of Howell Road, north of the railroad bridge, in Echols County. GPS: 30.82827, -83.017179

Georgia Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up 2025-09-20, Alapaha River, Mayday Landing

We collected several hundred pounds of trash.

Truck full of collected trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Almost all of it was the usual styrofoam, plastic, glass, and aluminum single-use throwaway trash we always see.

Plastic, glass, aluminum trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Sure, people shouldn’t litter. But if big companies didn’t make and distribute all that trash, people wouldn’t throw it out. The Real Trash Problem is the Producers, and How to Stop It 2023-12-23.

Solid waste management hierarchy

The Alapaha River was pretty low, at 79.07 feet NAVD88 on the Statenville Gauge. That’s within our recommended levels for Mayday, which are Lowest boatable: 78.1; Highest safe: 86.1. But nobody felt like dragging boats down and back up that slippery sand slope.

Shirley and the CSX RR Bridge, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

Is this water coming out of the ground just south of Howell Road a spring or a creek? It should be road runoff, but there’s been no rain.

Spring or creek?, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

This armadillo chose poorly for a den location.

Sand den, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

BCFFT

Beer, chips, fast food trash, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

TB

Gretchen, Shirley, trash bags, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

LMB

Shirley with large Modelo bottle, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

SoC

TT

A trail of trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

GBT

Glass bottle trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

CKT

Circle K trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

BCT

Beer can trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

BT

A can trashed on the beach, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

IT

Ironic trash, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

HRB

Howell Road Bridge, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

CSXRRB

Sandden

BTC

Gretchen, jsq, Shirley, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

MLS

Mayday Landing at-water and road signs, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

TN

Trash at Naylor Boat Ramp, 2025-09-20 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

NBR

Naylor Boat Ramp, 2025-09-20 –jsq for WWALS

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