PRINCETON, Iowa — Around 30 volunteers gathered in Princeton Saturday morning to help clean up trash at Whiskey Creek Run.
Kelsi DeNoyer, Partners of Scott County Watersheds Coordinator, said they've been doing cleanups every weekend this month across the county to help encourage people to take care of the environment.
We need a healthy environment in order to live, especially with our waters, that's the foundation of life," DeNoyer said. "So with our healthy waters, we can have good human, plant and animal health; recreation opportunities; and a good local and global economy. And if we have a lot of trash in it, or other pollutants, we can't have those things. And so we want to have people out here cleaning it up, recognizing that it's important, and making a difference in the community."
She said they're teaching people about what can happen when water is polluted.
"We are focused on improving our watersheds, and our water quality, and the trash, and that can leach some different chemicals, toxins, different pollutants," she said. "We want to remove that from the ecosystem before it becomes an issue, and by getting the community involved, they get to learn about that issue and become good stewards of our water."
The group spent two hours cleaning Saturday morning, and the volunteers included several kids, which DeNoyer was happy to see.
"It's so nice to have the kids out and be able to show, even if they maybe don't quite understand it all yet, the younger generation that it's important to protect our natural resources."
There are two more upcoming cleanups. One is on Sept. 25 at Silver Creek in LeClaire, and the other is on Oct. 2 at Crow Creek Wildlife Management Area in Davenport.