News : River RATS make river, sand bars cleaner, safer

A variety of wood, glass and metal, including a picnic table, were among the debris.

The Wilson family heads toward the dock.

Boaters unload some items at Hufle-Dulin.

Participants used canoes or boats to navigate the river and remove trash.

Bob Mahood and Marcia Hite bring some trash to the Hufle-Dulin dock Saturday morning.

This old platform was among the first items found.

The River RATS begin their journey from the Riverside boat dock to Wildcat Park.

Reuse and recycle, two of the three "R" words in the solid waste management triad of "reduce, reuse and recycle," came into play as the Cedar River RATS (Running Around Tidying Streams) volunteers held their annual clean-up on Saturday.

Each year, the volunteers pile into canoes or small boats and navigated down the river, covering several miles of waterways. This year, because the river level was lower than in previous years, many volunteers walked the sand bars, removing glass and other debris from the river bottom.

Among the first piece of debris to arrive at the first drop-off location, the dock at the Hufle-Dulin county park, was a large plastic barrel, with the top cut off. That became the receptacle for glass debris. A picnic table soon arrived, carried on a boat. Participants believe the table can be cleaned and repaired for use at the park. Another large item, a heavy wooden platform, possibly an old boat dock, will also be recycled. What cannot be recycled will end up in the landfill.