Help Friends of Accotink Creek with the International Coastal Cleanup

Accotink Creek near Wakefield Park

By Elizabeth Kirchner

Friends of Accotink Creek (FAC), a volunteer waterway protection group, invites you to join 152 countries and millions of people around the world in the 2012 month-long International Coastal Cleanup.

Starting at Fullerton Bridge on Sept. 15, cleanup crews will work their way upstream along Accotink Creek, stopping at 12 sites along the way and reaching the bridge at Little River Turnpike by Oct. 13. Visit the FAC website for information on the cleanup schedule.

FAC will supply bags, gloves, and advice to volunteers about how to protect the waterway; you supply the energy, and Accotink Creek will supply one of the finest wildlife corridors in Fairfax County as the backdrop for a great outing.

Trash from our hands travels down storm drains to creeks, streams, and rivers, and ultimately, to the oceans. As a result, 60 percent to 80 percent of the litter on beaches comes from inland sources.

For the past six years, families, businesses, civic and school groups, scout troops, and even couples on dates have spent autumn weekends wandering the woods along Accotink, as they joined FAC’s efforts to protect water quality—and keep trash out of the oceans. During a clean-up effort last spring, FAC volunteers netted 256 bags of trash, 15 tires, a stoplight, and a CO2 tank.

Throughout the year, FAC works to foster environmental awareness and education, monitor stream health, enhance recreational use, reduce storm runoff, restore habitats, preserve land, remove invasive species, plant native trees, and enlist broad-based public and organization participation and support.