Spokane River Clean-Up yields 6 tons of trash

There were plenty of folk at High Bridge Park at the eight-annual River Clean-up on the last Saturday of September — my count was around 400. According to the Friends of the Fall, there were 600 at this location. Friends of the Falls also counted 200 at the Avista site. That’s 800 according to the Spokane River Clean-up organizers. Councilman Jon Snyder briefly spoke (too brief, in fact), calling this the biggest river clean up in the USA. Of course, we don’t know what other cities do to have clean- up events, how many cities have aggressive road-side clean ups, and which cities have dirty rivers running through them that are as bad as the 110-mile Spokane River. Plenty of Japanese students were out and about. Parents with young children — 7-year-old clean-up experts under a blue sky along Latah Creek while dads pointed out the PBR beer cans and Safeway 1,000-year lifespan plastic bags. A few dogs. Plenty of bikes. Last of the season butterflies. White flies and no-see-ums. I spotted a few dragon flies. And the squirrels, packing away acorns and pine nuts. The energy was there, even if the total garbage gathered wasn’t monumental. Student groups from LC and Ferris were hooting and hollering. Events like this are fine. But some of us ask why not more local organizations at the park, early, getting people to learn about other environmental and community development groups? Spokane needs more events away from the shadow of the old thinkers in City Hall. Away from the Riverfront Park to celebrate something a bit more “natural.” We need action, political action, in-your-face energy, not all these feel-good events. Why not a petition to city council and the county to never give variances to the developers who back the politicians who splatter Spokane County with worthless vote-for-me signs? Work on teaching why shorelines are important — why critical area ordinances that affect rivers, creeks and other water bodies like wetlands should be upheld, strengthened, and protected? Spokane likes self-congratulatory stuff, and in many ways the community leaders really oversell this city’s potential and progress. In fact, in a democracy, we need more cutting edge people fighting for every inch of spiritual and physical territory. Spokane, the inner city, looks like a bombed-out Beirut in many locales. The suburbs outside the urban growth boundary look pathetic and sallow. Our neighborhoods are in disarray. Why not celebrate High Bridge Park, celebrate that it has no development, no more junk going in? But also discuss the absolute degradation of Latah Creek; all the golf course herbicide spill off; all the agricultural runoff; the eutrophication creating muck and stink right there at the High Bridge Park? So, applause for all those that showed up on a sunny Saturday. River Clean-up 2010 is now ancient history. For those who like to go by the numbers, Friends of the Falls’ Shawna Sampson just sent how much muck was picked up and ended up in the recycler’s hands: The final count was nearly 6 tons of trash collected (11,982 pounds) of which 2 tons (4,092 pounds) was recycled. Last year, the reported turn-out was more than 750 volunteers who hauled in 8 tons, of which 2 tons was recycled.