Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990 TAG: 9004220119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: MCCOY LENGTH: Medium
Eight members of the Scuba Club of Virginia Tech donned wet suits and went snorkeling along the New River near McCoy to scrounge for trash on the river bottom.
They came up with quite a collection of junk: a coffeepot, a blaze-orange traffic cone, an electric meter, headlights, muffler parts, an alternator, aerosol spray cans, a watch, a shower curtain, a miniature plastic goat.
That's not counting the beer cans and bottles along this stretch of the river, a favorite spot to inner tube for Tech and Radford University students.
"You could fill a pickup truck right there," said dive master Harrison Sizemore. He reached into the shallow water and pulled out a muddy 3-foot piece of orange hose and two more bottles.
"See, that's the sad part. It looks real good until you look real close."
Back on land, dozens of other volunteer groups were picking up the trash along the roads as a sort of environmental spring cleaning.
And the occasional rain shower didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm.
"It's fun. Just as long as I'm working, it's fun," 14-year-old David Allen said, even though he had some difficulty maneuvering his wheelchair over rocks and gravel.
David, his 16-year-old brother, Roger, and several other members of the Belmont Christian Church picked up a couple of miles of Virginia 114.
"Lots of shoes and lots of beer bottles," is what they found, David said.
The two teens were among roughly 1,250 county residents who pitched in during the seventh Annual Broomin' and Bloomin', sponsored by the Montgomery County Improvement Council.
In Roanoke, despite some early morning rain, about 600 participated in Saturday's Clean Valley Day '90, sponsored by the Clean Valley Council, said executive director Ann Weaver.
Individuals, groups and businesses had signed up to participate in the 12th annual event, and only a few groups with young children canceled because of the rain, Weaver said.
"All systems were go," she said.
A spokesman at the Roanoke landfill said about 23 pickup loads were collected at cleanup sites in Roanoke, Roanoke County, Salem, Vinton and Botetourt.
Montgomery County co-chairman Bob Blanton said the number of Broomin' and Bloomin' participants was twice that of two years ago.
"It's the publicity," he said, especially because this year's cleanup coincides with the 20th anniversary of Earth Day.
"I think it's more awareness of the environment," Blanton said. "People don't like seeing trash laying around."
The Virginia Department of Transportation donated bright orange vests and 6,000 trash bags that were distributed to approximately 100 crews, including university and school groups, church and civic groups and many business organizations. Volunteers were encouraged to recycle the glass, aluminum, newspapers and metals they found.
Blanton estimated this year's litter-picker-uppers would cover 150 miles of roads and five illegal dump sites, and would bring in more than 100 tons of trash.
Not included in that volume was a cement sewer cover found by a Boy Scout troop. The cover won a certificate for the largest and heaviest piece of trash.
The Scouts left the cover in the field where they found it.
Other items that were found testified to the throwaway lifestyle of Americans.
The Virginia Tech Biology Club found a pair of panties in a treetop, and the Corps of Cadets found a toilet seat on top of a hill. They tied for "Trash found in the strangest place" honor.
A Pepsi bottle containing a mouse and a snake was among the most unusual pieces of trash found. Another was a gas mask.
by CNB