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MLK Day of Service Will Help Philly Rivers. Here's How:

Jan 14, 2016
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Dozens of bags of “floatable” trash pulled from the Delaware River during a 2015 volunteer cleanup. MLK Day of Service volunteers who participate in neighborhood trash removal will also be helping our rivers because cleaner streets = cleaner creeks and rivers. Credit: Philadelphia Water.
Dozens of bags of “floatable” trash pulled from the Delaware River during a 2015 volunteer cleanup. MLK Day of Service volunteers who participate in neighborhood trash removal will also be helping our rivers because cleaner streets = cleaner creeks and rivers. Credit: Philadelphia Water.

As far as resumes go, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s is pretty hard to top.

A 200,000-person march on Washington that was crucial in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act? Check.

A year-long bus boycott that eventually led to a Supreme Court ruling declaring segregated buses unconstitutional? Check.

The list of Dr. King’s accomplishments is long, but one thing you don’t hear too much about is King the environmentalist. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t connections between his activism and the green movement that helped to bring us transformational legislation like the Clean Water Act.

Despite the fact his 1968 assassination predated the first Earth Day by two years, many credit MLK’s work as laying the foundation for the environmental justice movement—a movement guided by the belief that all people, no matter their race or income level, have an equal right to things like safe, clean drinking water and health-promoting green space.

No matter how you think of Dr. King’s legacy, the fact is, much of the work that will be done in his honor during the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service—an event being touted as the biggest MLK Day volunteer effort in the nation—will help our rivers.

How?

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Saturday: See GSI Being Made and Contribute to Art in Hestonville

Nov 19, 2015
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Hestonville residents and representitives from Philadelphia Water break ground at 55th and Hunter streets. Volunteers will gather for a community paint day to begin a mural planned for the wall seen in the background. Credit: Philadelphia Water.
Hestonville residents and representatives from Philadelphia Water break ground on a Green City, Clean Waters project at 55th and Hunter streets. Volunteers will gather for a community paint day to begin a mural planned for the wall seen in the background. Credit: Philadelphia Water.

This Saturday, volunteers will join Mural Arts, Philadelphia Water and members of the Hestonville neighborhood in West Philadelphia for a community paint day that will help artists Eurhi Jones and Michael Reali complete a new mural titled “Your Hands Shimmering on the Legs of Rain.”

Set for completion in spring 2016, the mural will overlook and highlight a Green City, Clean Waters project that will bring a rain garden and storage trench to a vacant lot at 55th and Hunter Streets. The mural was designed with input from neighbors who requested that art be included in the project during community meetings about plans for the site. "Your Hands Shimmering" is also part of the citywide Philly Water Art program, which uses creative works of public art to engage residents and connect them to green infrastructure projects that tend to blend into city streets or are hidden beneath the pavement.

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Philadelphia Water Loves Our Parks

Nov 13, 2015
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Some of the Green City, Clean Waters improvements at Dickinson Square Park. Credit: Philadelphia Water
Some of the Green City, Clean Waters improvements at Dickinson Square Park. Credit: Philadelphia Water

With the fall Love Your Park day of service upon us, we’ve been thinking about how much we love our parks and what the folks over at Philadelphia Parks & Recreation do every day to care for those spaces, making sure they are clean and safe.

Of course, with Fairmount Park’s historic role (in part) as a natural preserve designed to protect the city’s source water, you could say we’ve been a fan of Philly’s parks right from the beginning.

Today, Parks and Recreation is a vital partner in our Green City, Clean Waters program.

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UPDATE: Almost 10K Pounds of Trash Removed; Can You Help Too?

Aug 24, 2015
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A crew of volunteers celebrates after hauling an impressive load of trash from the Delaware River. Credit: Living Lands and Waters.
A crew of volunteers celebrates after hauling an impressive load of trash from the Delaware River. Credit: Living Lands and Waters.

Philadelphia Water is sponsoring a big clean up on the Delaware River with Living Lands and Waters and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, and we're still looking for some fresh volunteers out on the water. In the first few clean up days, members of the community who care about the health of the Delaware have already collected nearly 10,000 pounds of trash!

That's almost five tons of litter and other pollution that would otherwise be hurting wildlife habitats and damaging a major Philadelphia drinking water source.
So don't just imagine what we could accomplish with a few more volunteer crews—put an exclamation point on the end of your summer and join us!

Clean ups will be held this week and weekend, and continue through Tuesday, September 1. Designated work days will include two shifts, one from 9 a.m. to noon and one from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. In order to coordinate sites, all volunteers must RSVP by clicking here and filling out the form a the bottom of the page. Supplies and free food will be provided.

Cleaning crews will be based out of the following locations:

Penn’s Landing – 101 S Columbus Blvd Philadelphia, PA 19106 (Walnut East parking lot, closest to the Seaport Museum and Marina)

Ridley Park Marina- 401 S Swarthmore Ave Ridley Park, PA 19078

Delair Boat Ramp – 17 Derousse Avenue Pennsauken, NJ 08110

More details will be emailed to volunteers prior to event.

Living Lands & Waters is an Illinois-based environmental organization established by Chad Pregracke in 1998. Read more about the fascinating story behind Living Lands and Waters on their website. Questions? Contact Living Lands and Waters at 563.505.8321 or amber@livinglandsandwaters.org.

From the Living Lands and Waters Instagram account:

Almost 10,000lbs of trash removed from the #DelawareRiver in just three #rivercleanups! #Philadelphia

A photo posted by Living Lands & Waters (@livinglandsandwaters) on

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End Summer with a Bang: Volunteers Still Needed on the Delaware!

Jul 29, 2015
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Event flyer
Click on the image above for larger, shareable version of the event flyer.

Looking for a fun way to do some volunteer work before the summer ends?
Time is running out, but we have just the event for you. Philadelphia Water is joining the nonprofit Living Lands and Waters and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary in an upcoming Delaware River cleanup event, and we need your help!

Join us as we clean up the Delaware River through September 1. Cleanups will be held on designated work days from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. While the deadline for signups was August 14, we're still looking for volunteers on all days. Please join us and RSVP here!

All events will be based out of the following locations:

Penn’s Landing – 101 S Columbus Blvd Philadelphia, PA 19106 (Walnut East parking lot, closest to the Seaport Museum and Marina)
Ridley Park Marina- 401 S Swarthmore Ave Ridley Park, PA 19078
Delair Boat Ramp – 17 Derousse Avenue Pennsauken, NJ  08110

More details will be emailed to volunteers prior to event.
Supplies and free food will be provided, and large groups are encouraged to register now.

Living Lands & Waters is an Illinois-based environmental organization established by Chad Pregracke in 1998. Read more about the fascinating story behind Living Lands and Waters on their website. Questions? Contact Amber at 563.505.8321 or amber@livinglandsandwaters.org.

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Schuylkill River Spree Under Way, Includes All-New SRT Ale!

Apr 17, 2015
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View of the Schuylkill Banks section of the Schuylkill Trail from the South Street Bridge.
The Schuylkill River Trail, photo courtesy of Montgomery County Planning Commission.

One of the greatest uses humankind has devised for water is brewing that wonderful elixir known as beer (and ale, pilsner, lager, stout, porter or whatever whets your whistle on a Friday!). And one of PWD’s most important missions is safeguarding our beer water supply by acting in collaboration with other communities and groups as stewards of our wonderful Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers.

To call attention to the importance of our Schuylkill River and its value to the whole region, Sly Fox Brewery, with locations in Pottstown and Phoenixville, in collaboration with the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, will release SRT Ale on Earth Day (April 22). SRT Ale celebrates the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT), and a portion of the proceeds of the hoppy, gold-hued brew's sales will benefit the trail. The 5-day buildup to the official release begins TODAY as they kick off the SRT Spree. Sly Fox describes the journey from Pottstown to Schuylkill Banks in Philly well on their website: 

Reminiscent of Lewis & Clark, the SRT Spree includes a two-man-team representing Sly Fox Brewing Company. This is not an organized group excursion although fans of Sly Fox beer and the Schuylkill River Trail are welcome to travel along any segment of the journey or the entire trip.

The Schuylkill River Heritage Area provides even more details about this awesome journey:

The team will travel by kayaks, road bicycles, trail bikes, horseback, recumbent trikes and on foot to advance the giant can to the final destination. Each day the Spree will stop along the trail for an organized trail cleanup and recognition of a local beer purveyor that will introduce SRT Ale to the public.

You can volunteer to participate in the SRT Spree and help out with one of several trail cleanups planned for today through Wednesday. They are still very much in need of volunteers for tomorrow morning, in Kernsville from 8-10 a.m. if you can make the trek out to a community upstream!

Use this link to sign up for one of the clean-ups.

And get this… Trail Cleanup volunteers aged 21 and older will be given one free voucher to taste the new beer! SRT Ale tappings will be held each evening at licensed establishments located near the cleanup sites. Cheers! 

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