Each year, the Mayors’ Grand River Cleanup makes a big impact on the health of our local waterways. Nearly 1000 participants participate annually –picking up thousands of pounds of trash and recyclables from the banks of the Grand River and several tributaries. This year, we are expanding the Cleanup’s range thanks to WMEAC’s partnership with Seeds of Promise – a local grass roots community organization based in southeast Grand Rapids.
The 14th Annual Mayors’ Grand River Cleanup will add one of our Southeast side neighborhoods to our usual cleanup sites. This addition will help engage more Grand Rapids residents in the Cleanup and the work will focus on getting rid of some of the non-point source pollution before it eventually makes its way to the Grand River through the stormwater drain system.
Seeds of Promise, a nonprofit which seeks to solve community issues through eight impact teams, operates in southeast Grand Rapids, focused on the neighborhoods surrounding Hall St. and Madison Ave. Their Environmental Impact Team has conducted surveys within the neighborhood seeking to understand what environmental issues the community members were most concerned about; members were particularly concerned with air and water quality, beautification of the neighborhood, and trash/recycling removal.