Earth-friendly Nonprofit Partnered with Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources to Host Highly Successful Education and Engagement Event in April

Lawrenceville, Ga. – May 22, 2017 – Last month, as part of its ongoing mission to educate and engage citizens to play an active role in the stewardship of the local environment, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (GCB) teamed up with Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (GWR) to host the Third Annual Great Gwinnett Wetlands. Held on April 29, the earth-friendly event focused on Bromolow Creek and Wetland – a key wetland in Gwinnett County. In attendance at the event were community leaders from the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources who share GCB’s passion for preserving and protecting the county’s waterways and wetlands. Throughout the day, 230 volunteers learned why wetlands are so important, and were inspired to maintain their well-being by picking up litter, evaluating the water and surrounding ecosystem, and removing invasive plants that could potentially threaten the health of the wetland.

“Over the course of four hours, we monitored the wetland’s water quality, picked up 3,320 pounds of trash, removed close to 2,400 pounds of privet, and installed four coconut fiber logs to protect the wetland from erosion and allow it to absorb water for better flood control,” said GCB Program Manager, Sumner Gann. “Not only are those results incredibly impactful, but the sight of hundreds of volunteers working together to clean and beautify this community we all share was more than moving. Based on the fact that the amount of trash we removed this year had increased by about 420 pounds over last year’s results, it’s clear that we need to continue to educate the public on the many reasons why it’s important to put litter in its place. Not just during events like this, but year-round we all need to work together to protect and maintain these wetlands and precious water sources like the Chattahoochee River, Yellow River and Lake Lanier. Great programs like Adopt-A-Road and Adopt-A-Stream can help do just that. Fortunately, we are having a positive impact where invasive plants are concerned on this particular wetland. We only had to remove half of what we’d removed the year before.  All in all, Great Gwinnett Wetlands was an awesome success and we are so incredibly grateful to our awesome partners at Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources and our incredible volunteers for making that possible.”

Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful also extends its gratitude to The Aviation Institute of Maintenance, Gwinnett Parks and Recreation, and Gwinnett County Communications for their part in ensuring the event’s success, as well as to a number of local businesses and organizations that provided team leaders for the event. Included among them were Gwinnett Water Resources, Jacobs Engineering, CH2M Hill, Gresham Smith and Partners, City of Griffin, The Master Gardeners and Precision Planning – just to name a few.

To learn about future Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful cleanup and educational events, as well as the many ways to be a good steward of the environment year-round, interested individuals and groups are encouraged to visit www.gwinnettcb.org.

About Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful:  Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Services, Inc. (GCB) is a Keep America Beautiful affiliate and award-winning 501(c)(3) charitable organization. It boasts an expansive community-based network dedicated to finding long-term solutions to environmental and quality of life issues through individual action. The organization is guided by a Citizens Advisory Board that represents all sectors of the Gwinnett County community. A nationally recognized leader in creating cleaner, greener and more livable communities throughout Gwinnett, GCB involves more than 100,000 volunteers annually to clean and restore public places, recycle more, protect watersheds and develop the next generation of environmental stewards. To learn more about Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, please visit www.GwinnettCB.org.

About Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources:  The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources is a publicly-owned utility committed to providing superior water, wastewater, and stormwater services at an excellent value to residents and businesses. DWR is widely recognized for innovation and service excellence as well as stewardship of the environmental resources in Gwinnett County. For more information, visit www.gwinnettH2O.com.