TTF Watershed » Clean-ups

Sightlines Employees Mark Jenkintown Storm Drains!

Abby — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:36:03 +0000

A sunny, dry afternoon provided the perfect time to do a little something different from the day-to-day routine for Sightlines LLC in Jenkintown, PA this Thursday. Ten employees from their Jenkintown building helped to mark an estimated 50 storm drains in the borough from Mather Road north up to West Avenue and east to Old York Road/611. This TTF effort is in partnership with the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE) storm drain marking program, which works to place medallions with a fish saying “No Dumping! Drains to Creek” on storm drains across the Delaware Estuary.

Many people don’t realize that storm drains on the street lead to our local waterways. Food packaging, plastic bags and cigarette butts thrown onto the sidewalk or street ultimately make their way through the storm drain system and into our creeks and rivers. During rain, the polluted water from our streets floods our waterways.

We hope these new markers help to keep this situation from happening!

The two groups were led by TTF’s Community Liaison Steph Clymer and Tree Campaign Organizer Abby Grosslein. In addition to marking storm drains, our enthusiastic volunteers also talked with passersby about how using the storm drains properly can help keep our water clean. We distributed flyers and informed the community about TTF and how they can get involved with our activities.

Ashley Schmid, TTF’s Director of Education and Outreach, introduced TTF and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary before we got started.

Volunteers removed two bags full of trash and one of recyclables from the streets, keeping them out of the newly-marked storm drains.

All of the Sightlines volunteers pose with a newly-marked storm drain.

Thank you to Sightlines for being such awesome volunteers! Thank you to Jenkintown Borough for sending these great volunteers to TTF! Click here for more photos!

We still have more storm drains to mark in Jenkintown and across the watershed! To get involved with future events like this, email Ashley Schmid at ashley@ttfwatershed.org.

LOVE Your Park Tacony Creek Park Clean-Up A Success!

Abby — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:51:23 +0000

This past Saturday morning, Tacony Creek Park got some much needed LOVE from dozens of volunteers of all ages. Tacony Creek Park is this year’s signature park for LOVE Your Park Week, which made both TTF and the creek very happy! The volunteers, led by staff from Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, helped cultivate and mulch tree pits, pick up trash, mulch the path, and cut back invasive species at the park entrance at 5100 Tabor Ave.

Volunteers planted flowers around the sign to brighten things up a bit

Check out more photos here!

The mature trees in this entrance to the Tacony Creek Park are excellent buffers for stormwater runoff from the street. Before the water can get to the creek, the trees soak up much of the rainwater and filter out many pollutants. TTF helps plant and tend trees with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) because they are an inexpensive and effective stormwater management tool. They do, however, need to be maintained and kept healthy — which is why trees are so much happier when they don’t have to compete with weeds, and when mulch is used to insulate and moisten their roots! To learn more about the benefits of trees, click here.

TTF will continue to work towards making Tacony Creek Park a resource for the community for walking, bicycling, picnicking, nature-watching, and learning. Nearly everyone driving by the park on Saturday looked over and some people honked their horns in support. Maybe next year we’ll have a “HONK if You LOVE Your Park!” sign!

There’s still time to celebrate your Philadelphia parks! Click here to learn more and join TTF for a rain garden workshop with PHS and a garden party in Vernon Park!

To volunteer for events, please contact 215-844-8100 or email Ashley Schmid at ashley@ttfwatershed.org.

To get involved in tree planting or tending in Philadelphia, please contact 215-844-8100 or email Abby Grosslein abby@ttfwatershed.org.

Tree Planting, Garden Weeding, Street Cleaning Extravaganza!

Abby — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:42:28 +0000

On April 21 this Earth Day Weekend, TTF led volunteers from City Year, Arcadia University, and the Chew and Belfield Neighbor’s Association in planting seven trees, weeding a nearby community garden and picking up trash in and around the Chew Ave neighborhood. Thanks to Bryner Chevrolet for their truck, LaSalle Fresh Grocer for snacks, Weavers Way Community Programs for funding the tools and to everyone who came out and helped!

Volunteers from City Year pose before planting

Reverend Williams hosted the large group of volunteers on his front lawn as they took a break and ate lunch before getting back to work. The weather was beautiful, providing lots of sunshine for our new trees. Our volunteers had fun planting and weeding and learned about how what they did would help soak up rainwater and keep the streets cleaner!

Check out more photos from the event here.

TTF plants trees with the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department and PHS as part of the Plant One Million campaign to absorb and filter rainwater, keeping our creek clean. To learn more about trees, click here.

For more volunteer opportunities, contact Ashley at ashley@ttfwatershed.org.

Storm Drain Marking in Wyncote

Steph — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:54:39 +0000

TTF recently led fifteen Arcadia University students in marking over twenty storm drains in Wyncote in Cheltenham Township. These storm drain markers serve to remind people that our storm drains are not trash cans! They are designed to carry water away in the form of rain or snow melt. In some parts of the Philadelphia area, these drains lead to a sewage treatment plant, but in other areas these drains lead directly to our streams and rivers. When your car leaks oil or your pet goes on the lawn or your neighbor flicks a cigarette butt on the ground, it doesn’t just go on the ground. All of these forms of pollution end up washing into the nearest storm drain when it rains. Help keep our waterways clean by making sure trash and other pollutants stay out of our storm drains!

Contact TTF if you’d like to get out this spring and mark some storm drains in your neighborhood!

Use these links to find out what else you can do to promote clean water as a resident, school, or business. For more information about stormwater management in Cheltenham Township, check out this site.

Rock Creek Riparian Buffer Planting at Cedarbrook Middle School

Steph — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:23:37 +0000

TTF joined Cedarbrook Middle School students and teachers, Earth Force, and NAM Planning & Design, LLC three days last week to install a riparian buffer on the school grounds. The work started with removal of Japanese knotweed and Phragmites, two invasive species in the area. After clearing litter from the area and digging holes, we worked with seventh grade science teachers Karen Shaffran and Debi DiBattista and 175 students to plant hundreds of native trees and shrubs along the creek. Students worked hard and learned a lot about botany, ecology, and stormwater management. All of the collaborators look forward to installing a boardwalk and celebrating with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the spring.

Check out more pictures from the project here.

Read more about our work with Cedarbrook Middle School here.

Terrific Clean-Up in Jenkintown!

Steph — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:47:14 +0000

Thank you to all of our enthusiastic and resourceful volunteers who made our Jenkintown clean-up a huge success! We were joined by members of the community in addition to a large group from Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) in Aston, PA. We worked up and down Old York Road, weeding and picking up trash from along the store fronts and sidewalks. Thanks to our volunteers, the downtown area was clean and ready for Jenkintown’s Festival of the Arts! Not to mention, our efforts helped contribute to cleaner waterways downstream. Despite the last-minute change of location, we had a tremendous turnout and made a big impact in the borough of Jenkintown.

This event was part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. A special thank you to Fill A Bagel for providing our hungry volunteers with delicious bagels!

Check out more pictures from the event in this Flickr set!

Great Cleanup at the Tacony Creek Park!

Ashley — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:14:57 +0000

This past Friday, TTF hosted a service learning opportunity for students from the ACE Mentor Program. We were also joined by community residents, employees and co-ops from the Philadelphia Water Department and a Park Ranger from the Philadelphia Department of Parks & Recreation. In just three hours, we managed to collect 20 bags full of trash and 15 bags of recycling! We found everything from a hand grenade to lost shoes and computer keyboards. Unfortunately, we also found a few yellow jackets, but everyone was still in good spirits at the end of the event.

TTF will be working throughout the month of August to set-up regularly scheduled cleanups along the Tacony Creek so stay tuned for more opportunities to lend a helping hand! Check our Events page for details soon!

Check out more photos here!

Juniata Golf Club Stream Cleanup a Big Hit!

Ashley — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:58:24 +0000

Our stream cleanup event at the Juniata Golf Club was a huge success! We were joined by the Philadelphia Water Department’s Office of Watersheds and their Waterways Restoration Team, volunteers from the Kintock Group, a representative from State Senator Christine Tartaglione’s office, a member of Men in Motion in the Community (MIMIC) and community volunteers. Philadelphia Parks & Rec provided supplies and the Juniata Golf Club was a huge help hauling trash and providing lunch and FREE golf passes to all of our volunteers. Thank you all so much for you support and hard work!

Volunteers with all of the recycling, trash and debris we pulled from the creek! See more pictures here.

This event was part of a larger effort between TTF, the Philadelphia Water Department and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to restore the health and vitality of our stream corridors by educating the public about how to keep our streams healthy, improving the physical characteristics of our streams and providing easy access to streamside trails and recreations spots.

We hope you will keep checking back for here more stream events!

Don’t Let Spring Cleaning Stop at Your Indoor Spaces!

Abby — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:41:09 +0000

This past weekend, Lesley and I joined with Reverend Williams and a group of 30-40 volunteers to participate in Mayor Nutter’s Philly Spring Clean-Up 2011. In bright orange vests, we split into smaller groups and raked, swept, and picked up trash and recyclable items along Belfield Avenue, Washington Lane, and Duval Street (at least; there may have been one or two more sites). The garbage pick-up came before we could do a total count, but I would guess there were at least 30 if not 40 bags; at least one per volunteer. We also found a couple tires, a plastic drawer, and I can say that I found five bags worth of recyclables on Duval Street and disposed of them at Arcadia with the help of Mike Saloma and the Grounds Guys (should be a band, ha ha). It was a gorgeous day to beautify the streets. To learn more about this project, check out this video:

To get involved in upcoming activities like this, go to www.ttfwatershed.org/events. Thanks and happy spring cleaning!

Huge Cleanup by the Tacony Creek Park!

Ashley — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 18:38:24 +0000

Thanks to all of our volunteers who came and helped out with the Philly Spring Cleanup at the Tacony Creek Park! We had huge success in cleaning up an area that suffers from lots of littering and short dumping.

We cleaned up:

56 tires
68 bags of trash and debris
1 shelving unit
3 car cushions
1 child’s tricycle
1 huge roll of carpet padding
2 passports, a stack of credit cards and 1 social security card
5 window shutters
A stack of plywood
2 buckets

….. Phew!

It was a lot of hard work, but we had a really great team with students from Maritime High School, neighborhood volunteers, and a Parks and Recreation employee all helping out!

Great job keeping up the sweep up! See you out there again soon!

See more photos from the cleanup here.