Trash gathered from Chattahoochee turned into art

Every year, some 600 volunteers help the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper extract 70 tons of the garbage that clogs Atlanta’s major water source. Most of the junk goes to a landfill.

Most, but not all: The volunteers from Riot Atlanta found a way to turn some of that trash into treasure.

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Riot Atlanta

The ‘Water Is Life’ collage panels are made from junk recovered from the Chattahoochee River and other recycled materials.

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• Photos: See the art

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Riot, a design and post-production studio, took the Riverkeeper as a pro-bono client last year to help with the environmental advocacy group’s communications. Unexpectedly for both sides, the firm’s effort went beyond public service announcements and videos. It decided to spread the word through art: “Water Is Life,” a mural 5 feet tall and 10 feet long, collaged with river finds.

Last summer, 15 staff members participated in a cleanup. Some fished trash out of the water from kayaks, while others gathered refuse along river banks, where backups that collect around deadfall trees can stretch 12 feet long and 2 feet deep.

“In a few hours, we took in 2,200 pounds of nasty stuff,” said executive creative director Jeff Doud.

The tires, tennis balls, mattresses, toys, Styrofoam coolers, plastic bottles and aluminum cans that piled up on the trash barge weren’t necessarily thrown directly into the river, says Tammy Morrisey, the Riverkeeper events and outreach director. Some is street litter that goes into the sewer system.

The group hauled six trash bags of stuff back to the office and ran it through the dishwasher. Everyone pitched in to make the 200 6-by-6-inch panels that formed the mural. Each panel was an eco-sampler, with an environmental message spelled out with lettering cut from magazines.

Riot sent 180 panels to clients around the country as gifts. The remaining 20 pieces are up for auction on eBay through March 21. Proceeds will benefit the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

The project has benefited Riot as well. “We’re always looking for ways to work as a team and express ourselves artistically,” said Doud. “And we all have a new-found awareness of [how we dispose of trash].”

For information on the auction: www.riotatlanta.com/promos

/090301/. To learn about Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeepers or volunteer: www.chattahoochee.org.