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Sound Rivers staff joined a team of volunteers from Ribbon Communications for paddle and a clean-up.

Ten employees from the Morrisville-based company met up with Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop, Water Quality Specialist Taylor Register, Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz and water-quality interns Eloise MacLean and Tierney Reardon at Riverbend Park in Raleigh last Friday. Water conditions, however, required a change-up of the original plan.

“It was originally supposed to be a river clean-up via kayak, but the water was high and running fast, so we did a quick paddle,” Emily said. “We went from Riverbend Park to the Buffaloe Road canoe launch, and I think we had a record time, because we paddled that in about 15 minutes.”

Emily attributed the fast-moving water not to recent rainfall (there hadn’t been much), but to the release of water from Falls Lake Dam.

After the short kayaking trip down the Neuse, the group headed over to the Walnut Creek Wetland Center to clean out the trash trap on Little Rock Creek.

“We removed 82 pounds of trash — it was definitely time for a clean-out,” Emily said. “There was, classically, lots of plastic bottles and Styrofoam; also lots of basketballs and soccer balls.”

Emily said the outing was requested by Ribbon, as a way to give its employees an opportunity to do something positive for the environment.

“From their side, it was a great opportunity to spend time with coworkers and make that connection, and for some people, it was their first time kayaking, so that was cool, to get people out on the river for the first time,” Emily said. “We had this beautiful paddle on the river and then to go and see all the trash in the trash trap and realize how it all could have ended up in the river — it was nice to be able to make that connection for them.”

Would your group be interested in a similar environmental adventure? Let us know! Email emily@soundrivers.org.