By Amy Souers Kober
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act—a landmark law protecting outstanding, free-flowing rivers nationwide. As part of our celebration of this milestone, we are releasing a new film on Tuesday, 5,000 Miles of Wild.
<p>Combining stunning scenery with insightful commentary on the state of river conservation from Senator Tom Udall, Ted Roosevelt IV, <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/" target="_blank">American Rivers</a> President Bob Irvin, Rio Grande Riverkeeper Jen Pelz, river guide Austin Torios and others, this film is a powerful call to action for protecting our country's remaining wild rivers for future generations.</p><p>The film was shot earlier this year by filmmaker Ben Masters during a trip on the Wild and Scenic Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park. A <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/23/a-voyage-along-trumps-wall" target="_blank">New Yorker</a> story, published in May, captures some "behind the scenes" of the film shoot and details the issues facing the river.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODE2NzA2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzQxNDA0NX0.2dba56QgtBvhHqF1IC1Cb4xZ4sKUwC9BnQz0izk1qS0/img.jpg?width=980" id="86563" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c562a2845e666f63efd833ea5ee5f51a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Aerial of Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Ben Masters</small></p><p>It was an honor to have Senator Udall from New Mexico with us on the trip. In the film, he talks about his his father Stewart Udall, who was secretary of the interior under President Johnson, and integral to creating the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Ted Roosevelt IV, whose great-grandfather was the 26th president of the U.S., shares his perspective on our nation's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> history and advice for today's river advocates.<br></p><p>We want this film to broaden awareness about the importance of protecting wild rivers, and spark positive action: viewers can visit <a href="http://www.5000miles.org/" target="_blank">www.5000miles.org</a> to sign a petition supporting protection of 5,000 new miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers nationwide.</p><p>There are a million reasons why we need more Wild and Scenic Rivers. To see some examples, read through the <a href="https://www.5000miles.org/share-your-story/" target="_blank">personal stories</a> shared on the 5,000 Miles of Wild site, then share your own.</p><p>"We need to be doing more, not less, to protect the rivers that give us clean <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a>, unsurpassed recreation opportunities, fish and wildlife habitat, and connections to culture and our shared heritage," said David Moryc, senior director of river protection for American Rivers.</p><p>"Together with our partners and supporters, we are advancing vision for the next 50 years of river protection in our country."</p><p>The official anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is Oct. 2, 2018.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="dbd52" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NR0AY41576661716"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="917431675633664006" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">For Native Americans, a River Is Sacred https://t.co/YXQawDP518 @foodandwater @Waterkeeper @billmckibben @foe_us @IENearth @MarkRuffalo @350</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/917431675633664006">1507567731.0</a></blockquote></div>
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American Rivers named the Connecticut River Conservancy a 2017 Cleanup Champion. Connecticut River Conservancy
By Chelsea Alley
There is a wide variety of trash found at river cleanups—from shopping carts to sofas, bottles to baby dolls. National River Cleanup volunteers work to make these waterways trash-free—removing unique and common items alike. In no particular order, below are the five most common trash items found at river cleanups:
<p><strong>1. Cigarette Butts</strong></p><p>Cigarette butts weigh one gram or less, but they account for <a href="http://www.litterfreeplanet.com/id6.html" target="_blank">30 percent of all litter in the U.S.</a> They are the single worst offender in spite of their small size (food packaging makes up a larger percentage of litter but includes more than just one item, like straws, takeout containers, snack wrappers, etc.). This means that more than one trillion cigarettes are discarded each year, weighing over two billion pounds … or the equivalent of 42 Titanics stacked together!</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzEyNTQxMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjgyOTQwN30.LiAm3W81AreMkOyp9mEUEGbHjoxpWqMjap_Kf1XV9BM/img.jpg?width=980" id="60e9e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b06b560462f36657d7950ac833337bec" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p><strong>2. Plastic Bottles and Bottle Caps</strong><br></p><p>More than <a href="http://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/.../275-down-the-drain" target="_blank">22 billion plastic water bottles</a> are thrown away yearly, meaning only about one in every six water bottles purchased in the U.S. ends up being recycled. An average water bottle weighs about 12.7 grams, so the amount of water bottles wasted each year weighs over half a billion pounds. That's almost as heavy as the Empire State Building! <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics">Plastic</a> bottles and bottle caps aren't biodegradable, but they do photodegrade. That means that this plastic breaks down into small parts in the sun, and releases <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals">chemicals</a> into the environment as they disintegrate. The worst part? They continue breaking down for 500 to 1,000 years!<br></p><p><strong>3. Food Packaging</strong></p><p>Food packaging is the largest category of waste on this list, as it includes household packaging (i.e. milk jugs, juice boxes and snack packaging) as well as fast food packaging (i.e. paper, Styrofoam, paperboard wrappings, coffee cups and drink cups). Almost half of the litter in the U.S. is food packaging. While some of these items could be recycled, most are not, and often these are found weighing down shorelines and waterways. The <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/peter-lehner/fast-food-trash-nation-time-cut-down-packaging-waste" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> estimates that fast food chains and consumer brand manufacturers relying on single-use packaging waste over $11 billion a year, enough to fund ¼ of the U.S. Energy and Environment budget.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzEyNTQxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTczMDIyNH0.5evbxk-_wSiSiBM8ylXOKyS-lmjQ1hTlS2qkvWW4eoc/img.jpg?width=980" id="5041a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="054fb8761946b05e6af0093a751e85cc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p><strong>4. Plastic Bags</strong></p><p>Plastic bags are so common in the U.S. that over <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/images/uploads/press_room/Plastic_Bags.pdf" target="_blank">100 billion bags are used each year</a>. Over three times more bags end up as litter in our <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests">forests</a> and waterways than are recycled annually. Plastic bags only weigh about eight grams each, but enough are littered annually to weigh as much as 176 adult blue whales! Plastic bags take almost as long to degrade as plastic bottles, leach chemicals into the environment, and inhibit natural <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water">water</a> flows.</p><p><strong>5. Aluminum Cans</strong></p><p>Almost 100 billion aluminum cans are used <a href="http://recycleusainc.com/recycling-acts-stats/metals-recycling-facts/" target="_blank">in the U.S. annually</a>, and only about half of these cans are recycled. The rest go to landfills or into the environment. Beverage containers account for 50 percent of roadside litter (though this statistic includes plastic containers), and much of that is washed into our waterways. Every aluminum can weighs about 14.9 grams, which means that even if only 1 percent of the aluminum cans used each year were littered, there would be enough waste to equal the weight of 2,500 African bush elephants, and enough cans to circle the equator almost two and a half times.</p><p><strong>Bonus: What Will Stay in Your River the Longest? Microplastics</strong></p><p>Microplastics can come from larger plastic items when they break down, or in the form of products like microbeads. Most microplastics float into the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">ocean</a>, but a lot will sink to the bottoms of riverbeds and mix in with the sediment there. This effects oxygen levels in the water as well as harms <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/animals/">animals</a> that depend on these ecosystems for their livelihoods. Because plastic takes so long to break down, microplastics are so small, and these items are located along the bottom of rivers, they can stay in the rivers for potentially up to 1,000 years.<br></p><p>These numbers are certainly overwhelming, but they don't need to stay that way! There are many things you can do on your own or with your community to reduce the amount of waste in rivers:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/make-an-impact/national-river-cleanup/organizers/" target="_blank">Organize a cleanup</a> with National River Cleanup, or sign up for an <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/make-an-impact/national-river-cleanup/volunteers/" target="_blank">existing cleanup near you</a>.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Learn more about recycling with our National River Cleanup <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/american-rivers-website/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/18113043/NRC_Recycling-Guide_Final_8.10.17.pdf" target="_blank">recycling guide</a>.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Take our <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org/river-cleanup-map/" target="_blank">River Cleanup Pledge</a> to pick up trash and help us fill our virtual landfill.</li></ul><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8a6c6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YLOIXO1576662170"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="939662219406663680" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Brothers Paddle Two of America’s Most Toxic Waterways: Watch the Series #BroCleanBKLN https://t.co/fmBZnuvZvE… https://t.co/1FLo92cExy</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/939662219406663680">1512867905.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Chelsea Alley is the January 2018 National River Cleanup intern at <a href="https://www.americanrivers.org" target="_blank">American Rivers</a>.</em></p>
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