We got quite a bit of trash on a fun morning at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County and across the Alapaha River at Berrien Beach in Lanier County, in the September 24, 2022, River Alive cleanup.
![[Banners, trash, and people at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach, Alapaha River 2022-09-24]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-24--berrien-beach-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)
Banners, trash, and people at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach, Alapaha River 2022-09-24
The most unusual item was cash. Most of the rest was water, beer bottles, and plastic bags. And the usual used diapers. Plus a bumper. Continue reading
Update 2022-09-30: Pictures.
Get a Rivers Alive t-shirt for picking up river trash. Come to Berrien Beach Boat Ramp with gloves and trash pickers if you have them. No boat required, but those of us who bring one will also float across to Berrien Beach itself and clean up there, or you can drive across the bridge and get there by land.
When: 9 AM – noon, Saturday, September 24, 2022
Put In: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, 12496 Highway 168, Nashville, GA 31639, N side of GA 168, right bank, west side of Alapaha River, in Berrien County, Georgia.
![[Volunteers at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, Rivers Alive t-shirt 2020-09-12]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-24--berrien-beach-cleanup/many.jpg)
Volunteers at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, Rivers Alive t-shirt 2020-09-12
Bring: No boat required, but you can bring one if you like, with the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: this WWALS outing is a cleanup. Continue reading
Update 2023-12-23: The Real Trash Problem is the Producers, and How to Stop It 2023-12-23.
Update 2023-02-05: Beyond cleanups: trash traps, ordinances, business permits, reusable substitutes, bottle deposits, and single-use packaging bans 2023-02-05.
Update 2020-11-18: Landslide Yes on Georgia Amendment 1 to dedicate trust funds!
People shouldn’t litter, but individuals are not the real litter problem. The companies that make all those throwaway items are the problem. There are fixes, which we can implement. One fix Georgians can vote on right now: vote Yes on Amendment 1 please!
There was no lack of trash on the Alapaha River in September, at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County and at Berrien Beach in Lanier County. We found the usual cigarette butts, shotgun shells, and yes, a few used diapers.
Plus tires. To help stop tires being dumped by rivers, please vote Yes on Georgia Constitutional Amendment 1 to stop fee diversions.
We found fewer shotgun shells and tires but more of everything else at Twomile Branch in Valdosta, Sugar Creek, and the Withlacoochee River in August.
Come to the big cleanup this Saturday on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers in Lowndes County and on Sugar Creek, Onemile Branch, and Twomile Branch in Valdosta October 10, 2020!
We expect as usual the most numerous items will be plastic and glass bottles and cans.
Sure people shouldn’t litter, but Anheuser-Busch and other beer makers, as well as Nestlé, Coca Cola, and Walmart, should stop making and selling disposable bottles and cans.
Fifty years ago those things had deposits on them, and people would collect them for the cash. In economic downturns such as right now, that could be useful to a lot of people, and a lot more cleanups would happen. Sure, there was still trash back then, but not as much.
People still do in Hawaii and nine other states: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Vermont, plus Guam. They don’t have nearly as big of a litter problem.
But Georgia or Florida do not have such container deposits. Maybe we should change that.
No, recycling will not solve this problem. There’s no market for plastic to recycle, and recycling has been pushed by big oil for years as an excuse to make more plastic throw-away containers. Laura Sullivan, NPR, 11 September 2020, How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled.
You’ve probably seen the famous ‘Crying Indian’ ad from 1971: Continue reading
Update 2020-09-16: Bad lower Suwannee, good Withlacoochee and Alapaha 2020-09-14.
Results look good from the Alapaha River Saturday, at Berrien Beach and Lakeland Boat Ramp. Florida Thursday Withlacoochee River results corroborate the WWALS State Line results of that same Thursday we reported last time, and extend them downstream into Florida, also good.
However, more than half an inch of rain fell on Okapilco Creek Thursday, 0.75″ at Spence Field east of Moultrie, and also 0.6″ at Dixie in the west of Brooks County. Is that enough to wash some manure into the creek? We shall see.
![[Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers]](/pictures/2020-09-12--wq/rivers.jpg)
Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers
After the Berrien Beach Boat Ramp (and Beach) cleanup, I collected a sample at Continue reading
Nine people collected 304 pounds of trash at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County, Georgia, and at Berrien Beach in Lanier County, downstream across the river.
![[Boat Ramp, Berrien Beach, bags of trash, bottles]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-12--berrien-beach-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)
Boat Ramp, Berrien Beach, bags of trash, bottles
We got a picture with banners early before anybody left, and more later, with the trash and the beautiful Alapaha River. See also the real trash problem, the companies that make it.
![[Before]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-12--berrien-beach-cleanup-pictures/20200912_091733.jpg)
Before
Photo: John S. Quarterman, L-r: Dan Phillips, Dylan Phillips, Bret Wagenhorst, Bobby McKenzie, Shirley Kokidko,
Cindy Leighton, Becky Garber, Donald Roberson.
WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst handed out t-shirts from the Georgia statewide Rivers Alive program, from our last cleanup near this location, Continue reading
Update 2020-09-13: Pictures.
Cleanup on the Alapaha River in Berrien County, Georgia, at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch N/A, end 12 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2020
Put In:
Berrien Beach Boat Ramp. Concrete boat ramp on the north side of GA 168, west side of Alapaha River, in Berrien County, Georgia. About 20 minutes east of Nashville, GA, same southwest of Pearson. Less than 45 minutes southeast of Tifton and northeast of Valdosta. About an hour north of Madison, Jasper, Live Oak, or Lake City, FL; two hours north of Gainesville, FL.
The boat ramp is public, but the Berrien (west) side of the river is owned by Langdale Timber Company. Also known as Berrien Beach Landing. Float downstream under the bridge to the sand beaches of Berrien Beach.
Take Out: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp , which is on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail.
Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.
Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
Actually, you don’t have to bring a boat to this one: there’s plenty of trash to clean up right at the boat ramp.
Free: it’s a cleanup.
However, we recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
wwals.net/donations/#join
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, Public access on north side of bridge, with cement strip boat ramp at higher water level but no facilities. Access road is unpaved and about 1/4 mile long. Nice sandy beach 2014-10-20.
WWALS collected many bags of trash and four mattresses Saturday in the Rivers-Alive Cleanup at Berrien Beach Launch on the Alapaha River.
Thanks to Bret Wagenhorst for organizing this annual cleanup.
Special thanks to the three members of Valdosta State’s
Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.) for joining in,
and a student from UGA Tifton!
This outing was also part of the Great Suwannee River Cleanup, and we’ll have some more of those this year. This particular cleanup was at Berrien Beach Landing in Berrien County on the Alapaha River Water Trail. Thanks to Al Browning and the landowner for access to the sands of Berrien Beach in Lanier County.
See also the Video: #NoDAPL #NoSabalTrail —WWALS 2016-09-10.
We collected many bags of trash and four mattresses (not pictured) Saturday in the Rivers-Alive Cleanup at Berrien Beach Launch on the Alapaha River. Special thanks to the three members of Valdosta State’s Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.) for joining in!
This weekend, it’s Rivers-Alive Cleanup at Berrien Beach Launch on the Alapaha River, 4PM Saturday September 10th 2016; follow the link for details.
And a group out of Gainesville, Florida, Current Problems, has an annual
Great Suwannee River Cleanup 2016:
It’s time to register for the Great Suwannee River Cleanup! This is number 7! You may schedule your cleanup for anytime in September, October, or November. The first week of December is okay, too. We hope river conditions will be good this year and encourage lots of you to join in. Our goal this year is to pass the 100,000 pound mark. We’re close enough we can do it!
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
No boat needed! This Rivers-Alive Cleanup is on land,
at GA 168, the launch for Berrien Beach on the Alapaha River.
Bring gloves. Trash bags will be supplied.
When: 4PM Saturday September 10th 2016
Where: Berrien Beach Launch, at GA 168, 31.159076, -83.045554
Directions: 12.9 miles east of Nashville, GA on GA 168; launch access road is on left (north) side of highway west of the river.
Duration: about 1.5 hours.
Responsible party: Bret Wagenhorst
This outing is Free! But we encourage you to join WWALS today Continue reading
![[Bottles]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-12--berrien-beach-cleanup-pictures/bottles.jpg)