Winston-Salem “Big Sweep” reveals interesting finds

Members of SEAC pose after a long day of cleaning up a local watershed.

On October 3rd, Winston-Salem’s annual “Big Sweep” provided local residents with the tools to assist in a cleanup of rivers and streams. This event has targeted over thirty sites, including Peters Creek, Silas Creek and Salem Creek. This year, Wake Forest’s SEAC Club was assigned to the watershed nestled between Sara Lee Soccer fields.

Eleven students geared up with plastic gloves and orange vests supplied by Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful, a branch of the city government to comb through creek side brush and collect plastic bottles and aluminum cans.Recent legislature has made the dumping of plastic bottles illegal through-out North Carolina.

Interesting finds in the Sara Lee watershed included old tires, diapers, candy wrappers and an array of household appliances. Several students waded knee-deep in the creek, finding lengthy stretches of snow fence. There were also several children’s toys deposited in and around the water. Predictably a number of soccer balls were recovered, though most were too soaked to be reused.

Unique discoveries included an entire bicycle and a washer and dryer. The bike was left for pick-up. Per request of a homeless onlooker, the washer and dryer were moved and flipped; they are likely serving as a bed and shelter. These items ranked among past findings. Two years ago, the SEAC group found a microwave and shopping cart in east Winston-Salem.

Check out photos from “Big Sweep” and more on the SEAC blog, http://sustainwfu.blogspot.com/.

Contributed by Junior Haowei Tong, Member of SEAC