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On Saturday May 4, Canalway will host the 35th annual RiverSweep, one of Ohio’s largest one day litter cleanups.
Started in 1989, RiverSweep focuses on protecting the Cuyahoga River and surrounding green spaces by cleaning up illegally dumped garbage and litter from streets, greenways and water ways in Cleveland and the surrounding areas. Over the last 34 RiverSweeps, more than 20 thousand volunteers have cleaned up and recycled more than 24,757 illegally discarded tires and over 1.5 million pounds trash.
The cleanup effort has helped communities reduce public dumping and encouraged the creation of parks and trails. Many past RiverSweep sites that were hotspots for illegal dumping are now public park and trail spaces including sections of the Towpath Trail, Hart Crane Park, Scranton Flats, Cleveland Metroparks Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation, Mill Creek Falls, Cleveland Metroparks Washington Reservation, the Morgana Run Trail, the Treadway Greenway, and Cleveland Metroparks West Creek Reservation.
“In 1989, RiverSweep started as a way to help people share in the vision for the Towpath Trail and to allow volunteers to be a physical part of trail and park expansion in Cleveland,” said Mera Cardenas, Executive Director of Canalway. “Now, the Towpath Trail is complete, along with many parks and reservations, and our river is an amazing recreational asset. Today, RiverSweep is a way for people to continuing giving back to the community and pay tribute to the parks, trails and river they get to enjoy every day.”
RiverSweep 2024 is presented by Canalway and sponsored by Cargill, Bedrock, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, Dominion Energy, Gilbane Building Company, and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and supported by dozens of community partners. The full community list can be found at CanalwayPartners.com.
