My Chicago River Day Summer Challenge Kick-off and Litter Free Toolkit Training
Join Friends of the Chicago River at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 9 for a virtual celebration of the 28th annual Chicago River Day. Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-5th) and other elected officials will join Friends' Executive Director Margaret Frisbie to announce the My Chicago River Day Summer Challenge, where all summer long volunteers will work together, but safely apart, to make the river and our communities litter free.
Studies show 93% of fish in local rivers have microplastics inside them because of our litter problem. By making an area litter free, we create a cleaner environment and deter future littering, but it will take a team effort to get there. Friends will show you how to safely collect litter individually in compliance with COVID-19 restrictions to create a Litter Free Chicago River.
The Summer Challenge combines individual litter clean-ups with online educational programming hosted at 10:30 a.m. on the second and forth Saturdays through September 19. These programs will highlight Chicago River Day sponsors and cover river history, ecology, wildlife, water quality, and climate change impacts on the river system.
In the first of these programs, volunteers will learn how to organize a community clean-up utilizing the Litter Free Toolkit, once restrictions on COVID-19 are modified or lifted. The Toolkit program runs 11 a.m. to noon, immediately following the Summer Challenge announcement. Participants in the May 9 virtual kickoff will automatically be entered into a drawing to win a litter collection kit, including a litter grabber, bucket, gloves, and a hat.
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