Save the date for our 14th annual White River cleanup Saturday, September 18th, 2021 at Westside Park.
Pre-register for the 2021 White River Cleanup
Crew leaders are especially needed this year as volunteers will split into more groups due to COVID-19 precautions. Crew leaders must pre-register online and will receive additional swag and crew leader shirts. Crew leader training is scheduled for two dates in September at the shelter at Westside Park: Tuesday the 7th at 5 pm, and Friday the 10th at noon. If a volunteer crew leader cannot attend either training option, a Zoom training session can be scheduled with Jason Donati. Even repeat crew leaders from previous years must attend training as processes and areas change. Sign up to be a crew leader, and pre-register for the event at http://beautifulmuncie.org/white-river-clean-up/.
The White River Cleanup has been responsible for removing an estimated 130,300 pounds (65.17 tons) of trash and 799+ tires from our beautiful river in the past 13 years. It has drawn well over 4,618 volunteers over the years.
The White River Cleanup is hosted by Muncie-Delaware Clean & Beautiful and Muncie Sanitary District/Stormwater Management Department along with other sponsors: FlatLand Resources, Indiana American Water, EMCOMM ECI, Minnetrista, Muncie Parks Department, MITS, the Town of Yorktown, Ball State University, Clearwater Car Wash, the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Upper White River Watershed Partnership.
Volunteers are encouraged to dress appropriately by wearing clothes that can get dirty and wet. Please bring gloves if you have them.
Registration will start at 8a, with freelance canoe and kayakers leaving for the western portion of River at 8:30a. All other volunteers will be bussed to their locations by 9a. Headquarters for the cleanup will be at Westside Park in Muncie, off of White River Boulevard between Tillotson Street bridge and Nichols Street Bridge. We will be meeting the shelters furthest to the west.
The White River Cleanup happens every year in September and is a statewide public service event stretching most of the entirety of the White River. Many counties including Delaware, Hamilton, Monroe, Madison, and Morgan Counties participate in cleaning up the White River on or near the same date in September. People come together from all communities to help clean the White River and thousands of pounds of trash are removed every year including large amounts of tires.
The White River Clean-Up cleans close to 15 miles of river from the Indiana American Water dam all the way to Canoe Country in Daleville.
Volunteers walk the bank, river, and land where possible removing debris from and around the river. When that is not possible, volunteers use canoes to navigate through the water filling them up along the way with the debris they find.
The White River Cleanup is sponsored by the Stormwater Management Department and organized by Muncie-Delaware Clean & Beautiful.
Many partners come together and contribute on many different levels to make this event one of Delaware County’s most accomplishing community workdays. Such partners include; the Muncie Sanitary District Sanitation Department, the Town of Yorktown, Minnetrista Cultural Center, MITS, Ball State University, White River Watershed Project, EmComm ECI, and the Muncie Parks Department.