This event started from a single idea. One person came together with a few friends and thought it would be a great idea to clean out the Clackamas at the end of the summer. That one idea became a 7 year adventure, evolving to a 300 person team of volunteers. Now these volunteers routinely retrieve over 6,000 lbs of trash, and sort it for proper recyclables. And this immense effort inspires a community of artists to take a turn in the ripples of a great sustainable cause.
During the summer of 2008 We Love Clean Riverswas running their 6th annual Down the River Clean Up. During this event Jenn Reilly was approached to create a sculpture from the salvaged river trash, but there is more potential to be had. With 6,000 lbs of trash there should be more than just one artist involved. The river clean up embodies many values that she admires:
- Cleaning up the environment
- Uniting community
- Enjoying a beautiful day in nature
- Promoting sustainable practices
- Inspiring lifestyle change
The only element missing was ART. Through art we can re-use, one of the 3 “r”s that we tend for forget, and one of the most useful. Conscious recycling, active recycling, placing awareness into the individual’s hands.
Tossing recyclables into another blue bin, to await the recycling fairy to whisk them away is notthe best solution. The preferred alternative begins with re-use, decreasing personal carbon footprints. Consider every object whether recyclable or trash. Can you wash it out? Can you paper Mache it? Can you make a table with it?
... none of those options are your specialty? Not to worry. This is the best part of The Ripple Effect on the Down the River Clean Up. Because of 6 artists, 322 volunteers journeyed down the river together in search of possible artistic prospects. 322 people who may doubt their ability to color in the lines thought about creative solutions for the 6,000lbs of trash created from recreational river use.
Art ripples through communities
creating change sparkedby
soul to soul inspiration
