RiverSweep – Three Decades of Cuyahoga River Valley Clean-Ups

RiverSweep will be from 9 a.m. – 12 noon on Saturday, May 8, 2021. Below clean-up sites are preliminary and subject to change. To ensure COVID safety protocols, registration will be required.

We clean up to bring awareness to areas that will one day become a future trail and/or park. In 2019, 832 volunteers removed over 58 tons of trash, including 440  tires and went through 30 gallons of paint to cover up graffiti!

Over the course of 30 years 19,940 volunteers have helped us extract and recycle 24,757 illegally discarded tires and picked up for disposal 713 tons of trash. 

Volunteer for RiverSweep

We’ve modified our registration and clean-up process this year to ensure COVID-19 guidelines outlined by the CDC and the State of Ohio are followed. Here’s how it will work:

  • Each volunteer(s) will need to sign up online for their selected clean-up site and sign the volunteer waiver form electronically. If you are a member of a group volunteering for a specific site, you still need to register. There will be both land based and river-based (BYO paddleboard or kayak) clean-up sites. We will be unable to accommodate walk-up volunteers the morning of RiverSweep. Individual site registration links are pending.
  • The morning of RiverSweep, volunteers will check-in at their selected site with the site leader or a Canalway Partners staff member.
  • Once online registration has been confirmed, volunteers will be given their own supplies which will include: latex gloves, garden gloves, plastic garbage bags, and a map of where they should clean. Oh, and you’ll also receive a cool RiverSweep themed t-shirt!
  • There will be a 9 a.m. start with a 12 noon finish. 
  • All volunteers must wear a mask. 
  • Volunteers will follow social distance practices during the cleanup – please spread out!  
  • All volunteers will work within a TEAM approach – no more than 10 people/TEAM. Bring your own team OR we will be glad to assign you to a TEAM.     
  • Each TEAM will be provided a map of the area they will clean.  
  • Please join us for the after-party, the Towpath Tappening, at Forest City Brewery (details to follow). Also remember to bring your water bottle! 

Individual site registration is pending and we will continue to keep you updated on any changes. For now, stay safe and healthy and we hope to see you in May!

Clean Up Sites – If you or your group have questions about volunteering at a specific site listed below, please contact Julie Sciarrino at julie@canalwaypartners.com

Train Avenue: 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Flats West Bank: 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Rivergate Park/Cuyahoga River: Cuyahoga River based clean up with members of Cleveland’s paddle community interfacing with the Port of Cleveland’s Flotsam and PHASTAR. 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Irishtown Bend

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Columbus Rd./Carter Rd./Blue Bridge

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Columbus Rd. Peninsula

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Flats East Bank/Settler’s Landing

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Tremont: 

W. 3rd St./Jefferson Ave.

REGISTER (PENDING) 

W. 7th St./Quigley Rd.

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Google Map

West Creek/Parma:

Section of West Creek Near Midtown Towers Apartments

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Section of West Creek Near Brookdale Ave.

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Henninger House 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Big Creek/Lower Harvard: 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Slavic Village:

Morgana Run/Morgana Bluffs Nature Preserve: 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Mill Creek: 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

Garfield Heights

Forestdale: 

REGISTER (PENDING) 

RiverSweep only happens with a little help from our friends! To learn more, check out our video!

The Results of Decades of Hard Work

The impact of RiverSweep on the community is undeniable.  Within the Cuyahoga River watershed, new parks and trails have emerged in areas formerly targeted for illegal dumping. As a result, more than 400 acres of new greenspace have been cleaned, conserved and open to the public along with an additional 14 miles of trails. Our most recent example is Stage 3 of the Towpath Trail that runs 1.9 miles from the northern entrance of Steelyard Commons to Literary Avenue in Tremont, providing an important link between the populous Cleveland neighborhood, Tremont, the employment and retail center, Steelyard Commons, and the public outdoor recreation area, Clark Field. Another example of greenspace is the Scranton Flats section of the Towpath Trail that consists of 11 acres along the Cuyahoga River that created a new model for fish habitat restoration in an urban shipping channel.

New or expanded parks, trails and greenways have been created from RiverSweep sites. Click on the links below to learn more:

RiverSweep volunteers get a free t-shirt!
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