Crushed Pepsi cans, damp cigarette butts, rusty tire wheels buried deep in soggy mulch.
These are some of the debris collected by Current Problems, a waterway cleaning organization based in Alachua County, after a day’s work.
By the end of the year, the junk-filled bags Current Problems carry in their cleanup will reach the milestone of collecting 1 million pounds of trash.
According to executive director Nicole Llinas, this achievement could come as early as November. As of 7 October, the organization had collected her 986,333 pounds of trash, of which she had collected more than 32,000 pounds since January, and by the time she reached 1 million, she had collected 14,000. Less than a pound remains.
Llinas has his sights set on milestones, but he has another goal in mind.
“People ask me, ‘How many kilos do you want to gain?’ I always say zero,” she said. “I hope nothing hits me.”
Founded in 1993, the nonprofit has led hundreds of water conservation and restoration efforts in north-central Florida for almost 30 years.
We hold cleanups approximately three times a week and provide volunteers traversing swamps, streams, lakes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water with all the tools and equipment they need to collect debris. About 53% of the trash collected is recycled or reused by local artists.
The organization refocused on stormwater pollution in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Alachua County was largely unaffected by the storm, so Linus said he focused resources to help clean up and dispose of Flagler, St. John’s, and Volusia counties. In addition to working with upcoming events on Lake Newnans and the Suwannee River, she said she plans to utilize equipment and supplies to the eastern region and coastline over the next three months.
Even less severe storms have lasting environmental impacts. Floods and rising water levels cause debris to accumulate on floodplains even after the water recedes.
The current problem, Linus said, is still picking up trash in Gainesville’s Hogtown Creek left behind by Hurricane Elsa, the first named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. .
Heavy rains pose a threat of particular concern in Alachua County, where storm drains are unfiltered. This allows contaminated runoff to flow directly into drains and into natural waterways.
According to Alachua County Water Conservation Coordinator Stacie Greco, installing filters is neither an easy nor a viable solution.
If the local trees are thickly covered, it will be difficult to install the filter. This is because the filters quickly fill up with leaves and require staff to clean them after every storm.
Current Problems targets debris that would otherwise contaminate drinking water and the Atlantic Ocean by specializing in cleanup of large debris in freshwater throughout the Suwannee and St. Johns river basins.
The entire state rests on Florida’s aquifer, providing drinking water to 10 million people and supplying waterways directly from groundwater, springs, streams and other bodies of water.
“Putting all drinking water directly at your feet is a major environmental concern,” said Christopher Gilbert, Alachua County Hazardous Materials Program Manager.
Pollution on land also seeps into marine ecosystems. Toxic chemicals, metals, plastics, and sewage enter rivers and runoff, creating more than 80 percent of the world’s marine litter, according to one research agency. A 2020 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Gilbert said he believes many people are unaware of that connectivity.
“They think, ‘There’s no harm in throwing this Styrofoam cup out,’ and people don’t realize it’s a long chain,” he said.
Current Problems recognizes the need for what Llinas calls “watershed awareness.”
The organization’s founders focused on teaching North Florida people to be upstream neighbors to communities across Florida and communicating their responsibilities to those communities, she said.
Public attitudes toward coastal issues like algae blooms in eastern Florida don’t consider how “it starts in our streams and starts in our waterways and backyards,” she added. .
These issues extend beyond individual behaviors, Llinas said.
Llinas leads the organization in a sustainability mindset that uses programs and education to address environmental impacts as well as the systemic conditions that put pollution into the water in the first place.
It’s not surprising to find dozens of plastic bottles and Styrofoam cups in one cleaning, but so is a half-submerged shopping cart. Objects dragged out of the water vary in size, shape and material, all carefully cataloged by Llinas.
Current Problems uses this data to partner with public and private organizations in the 19 counties it serves to increase the availability of local resources. Our efforts to provide responsible disposal options range from suggesting new recycling bin placements to initiating tire retreading events.
Public education initiatives are critical to reducing water pollution, as Alachua County officials stress.
“Education keeps us ahead of the curve,” said Gilbert.
Alachua County enforces water quality regulations, but often people just don’t know, says Greco. She works with the Alachua County Department of Environmental Protection on the “Don’t Rain Down the Drain” campaign to promote best practices for managing stormwater drainage.
Greco said he believes the Current Problems cleanup is a great way to get people involved and see the impact. And volunteers agree.
Evan Asuncion, a sophomore at the University of Florida, remembers trekking the water-filled grounds of Hogtown Creek in March and finding Llinas rewarding.
Asuncion, a Jacksonville native, said he was previously unaware of the extent and effects of pollution in Gainesville’s natural areas.
After digging a tarp out of the dirt and picking a bottle from a stream, his perspective changed.
Now he is more aware of the role he can play in directly influencing change.
“More people should recognize and contribute to this kind of community, this kind of action, this kind of volunteerism.”
