For almost 40 years, Simon Locke has headed to the Chattahoochee River when he needed to unwind and escape the pressures of his job in industrial sales.
“One of my primary recreational activities is canoeing,” said the now-retired Kennesaw resident. “That’s how I first got involved in river cleanups.”
The motivation to keep the waterway free of debris led him to join the Chattahoochee Riverkeepers, a nonprofit dedicated to making local river systems healthy, debris free and sustainable.
Locke has been a regular on Riverkeeper cleanups since 2003. A typical work session lasts about five hours and usually rounds up more than just empty soda cans.
“Plastic bottles are Number 1 and tennis balls are Number 2, I think because people throw them into the water for their dogs,” said Locke. “But some stuff has been in there a long, long time.”
The oddest thing Locke has found was the steering wheel of a 1960′s VW bus. He’s also reeled in lawn chairs, barbecue grills and, strangely enough, a number of “creepy dolls.”
“They’ve been legendary,” he said. “We usually get a few on cleanups. No matter what it is, it seems like there’s always stuff there. You never get it all.”
In addition to pitching in on clean-up days, Locke monitors water conditions at three sites through Cobb County’s Adopt-a-Stream, a program that relies on volunteers to collect data about local waterways and wildlife habitats. Each month, he heads out to two sites along Butler Creek in Kennesaw and another on Proctor Creek farther south to collect samples that measure chemicals and E. coli levels. He also visits those locations each quarter to check up on the natural environment and the rate of erosion.
On March 26, Locke will be among the hundreds of volunteers fanning out to more than 50 sites in the Chattahoochee watershed as part of the Riverkeeper’s annual “Sweep the Hooch.” Last year, about 1,200 people pitched in to collect and remove more than 35 tons of trash from the river, its tributaries and local creeks and lakes. That sweep is also apt to make Locke’s regular river excursions more enjoyable.
“I feel peaceful and relaxed on the river – that’s what made me take it up,” he said. “It’s my deal.”
Information about the March 26 clean-up is at sweepthehooch.org.
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