Essex Source to Sea Cleanup

The Essex Land Trust, Sustainable Essex, and the Connecticut River Museum will participate in the Connecticut River Conservancy Source to Sea Cleanup on September 23. Meet at the Connecticut River Museum at 9:00 AM for a briefing and will proceed to cleanup locations in the River Watershed including Great Meadow and Turtle Creek Preserve.

Most of the cleanup involves picking up small bottles, plastics, and cans so everyone can participate and make a difference. We will tally the trash using a smartphone app, which allows us to track the most often littered materials. This data helps inform legislative policy to either reduce the amount of plastic in consumer materials or incentivize recycling of highly littered items.

Day-of registration is open. Please be sure to register and sign the waiver on site. Register as a group volunteer: HERE. Search for and select: Essex 3-Villages, CT.

Why does the Connecticut River matter?

The lower Connecticut River is not only a local treasure, it is the last important river estuary on the eastern seaboard of the United States that remains unspoiled. It has been recognized by international organizations as ecologically important by the Ramsar Treaty, as one of the Western Hemisphere’s forty Last Great Places by The Nature Conservancy, as an American Heritage River and as the Silvio O. Conte US Fish & Wildlife National Refuge. It is a truly special and unique place in the world.