FORT BELVOIR, Va., (APRIL 26) -- The Fort Belvoir Potomac River Watershed Cleanup effort improved the quality of life for man and beast on Earth Day, Sunday.
More than 150 Soldiers, students and civilians maneuvered through wooded areas collecting approximately 150 bags of garbage and 16 tires along Belvoir's shoreline.
Volunteers sacrificed personal time, removing trash from several areas on post such as Dogue Creek, Tompkins Basin Park and Accotink Bay.
The event, hosted by the Fort Belvoir Directorate of Public Works, Natural Resource Office, reduced pollution on post by making Belvoir a cleaner place to live, work and play.
"This is a park and lot of kids come here. We don't want any unnecessary injuries or health issues," said Pfc. Jessica Pacheco, Echo Company, 169th Engineer Battalion Advanced Individual Training student.
The AIT students helped clean Tompkins Basin Park.
"We want people to come out here and have fun," Pacheco added.
Bags full of plastic, cans, tennis balls and styrofoam were collected throughout the clean-up.
"If we tried to remove every piece of styrofoam we would be here for a month," said Dan Hogan Department of Defense contract analyst.
Styrofoam, perhaps the most frequently encountered trash item, certainly kept Hogan and other volunteers busy during the four hour event.
Volunteers tried to remove as much trash as possible, even risking falling into the Accotink Bay by reaching for trash in the water.
"Nobody quit half way through," said Kevin Walter, DPW Natural Resource Specialist. "Everybody finished what they had to do and I think that made the event successful."
Walter said the clean-up protects animals from becoming trapped in trash and it also creates a more aesthetically pleasing environment.
The collected items reduce pollution on Belvoir and the greater Northern Virginia region as shoreline trash tends to travel downstream with the water currents.
"I want to enjoy this park," Pfc. Travis Braud, E Co. 169th Eng. Bn., AIT student. "I don't want to see trash and litter."
Belvoir has hosted the cleanup for 24 years, with 150 to 200 people typically supporting the effort annually.
The cleanup ended Belvoir's weekend long celebration of Earth Day. The festivities started Friday with an interactive kick-off celebration for children and Families. It continued Saturday with the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sponsored campout, the U.S. Route 1 cleanup and a giveaway-filled event at the Exchange.
This is the 42nd Earth Day celebration. According to the Earth Day website, www.earthday.org, former United States Senator Gaylord Nelson founded the first celebration April 22, 1970.
More than one billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, in an effort to improve the world's sustainability for future generations.
"I believe in us going green," Pacheco said. "With the technology we currently have, we can help not just the community but the earth as a whole."
The clean-up also served as a community service opportunity for numerous organizations.
Loudoun County High School national honor society students traveled about an hour to participate.
"It doesn't really matter to us where it is," said Tyler Cook, LCHS junior. "It could be two hours away. We're here and we're helping."
Cook's NHS Advisor Nicole Daniel, a LCHS psychology and economics teacher, invited the students to volunteer.
Daniel wanted her students to view the consequences of polluting the environment first hand.
"When you drop trash ... it ends up here, killing birds and wildlife and our wetlands," Daniel said. "For the students it's a good excuse to get them out here and work. They really care a lot about the environment."
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