Peachtree Corners' Green Committee, formed in 2014, is the winner of this year's Great American Cleanup-Gwinnett Challenge's 'Do A Water Walk' award.
To take top honors, the group spent 24-hours assessing the habitat of a portion of Crooked Creek to determine the stream's overall health based on Georgia's Adopt-a-Stream's Habitat Survey. The award's $500 cash prize will be used to implement one of the committee's future projects.
The water walk category, new this year, was created to recognize the importance of clean waterways and streams. "This year the emphasis was on water because it's such a precious commodity," said Connie Wiggins, Executive Director of Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful.
Headed by Green Committee member, Bob Howard, the group had specific parameters for completing the complex survey, including measurement of water quality, water supply and habitat health.
The portion of Crooked Creek that was examined is healthy with no evidence of pollution and little runoff. "There was some sediment coming into the stream," added Howard, who also works for the Environmental Protection Agency. Runoff from nearby parking lots was the likely cause, but according to Howard was not found to be significant to the overall health of the creek.
Other top honors in this year's Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Challenge include Brownie Troop 3031, winners of the 'Storm Drain Stenciling' award. The girls stenciled 37 storm drains within three different neighborhoods and educated 795 of their neighbors not to dump down the storm drain, where it can lead to the nearby Cardinal Lake.
Norcross Interact took the 'Clean A Waterway' award for removing 200 lbs. of trash and recyclables, as well as 200 tennis balls, from the area around an unnamed lake that feeds into Crooked Creek.
United Peachtree Corners Civic Association won the Adopt A Road' award for picking up 620 lbs. of litter and debris off roadsides in Peachtree Corners.
The tiny activists of Maxwell Pre-K received the 'Recycle More' award after gathering 71 cell phones for recycling in an effort to preserve a Gorilla habitat from more mining for rare materials used in small electronics.
Teens from the Lanier High School Environmental Club were awarded the Reuse A Resource' award for collecting 506 books for reuse by Honduras Outreach International.
And eco-conscious college students at Georgia Gwinnett College received the "Plant A Garden" award for the creation of a new community garden planted with 80 vegetable plants to provide fresh food for the Lawrenceville Cooperative Food Bank.
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