25 years of cleaning trash from Lake Keowee

This summer thousands of residents and visitors will spend glorious days on Lake Keowee. What many of the them do not know is that over 200 volunteers spent several days in May collecting litter along the shores to make sure Keowee keeps its reputation as one of South Carolina’s cleanest lakes. Five years ago, Scott Calderwood volunteered for one of the cleanup efforts, which are called Lake Sweeps. Now Scott organizes the sweeps, assigning volunteers to teams and teams to specific sections of shoreline. This past May seventy-five teams of three to five volunteers cruised along their assigned shoreline collecting everything from soda cans and bait buckets to tires and water heaters. Teams cleaned a total of 300 miles of shoreline. Scott said “no one wants to see trash along the shore, plus it’s not good for the environment. Since we have been doing this a for about 25 years, we’ve seen that this makes a big difference. The lake has gotten a lot cleaner.” On the day of a lake sweep, volunteers usually meet at the team captain’s dock. There they receive their trash bags and their orange vest. Gloves, rakes, water and snacks are also shared. Each team is responsible for approximately 3 miles of shoreline and the adventure usually takes a full morning. Teams come home with three to five bags full of trash, and some great stories to share involving some of their more intriguing finds. As thanks for participating in the Lake Sweep, all volunteers are invited to attend a cookout. Mike White, a 4-year lake sweep volunteer said, “Lakes sweeps are a lot of fun. I’ve discovered new parts of the lake and learned a lot about maneuvering a pontoon boat. I’ve also made some great new friends”. “Last year our team collected six bags of trash, so I was interested to see if we would find more or less this spring. We found less and I think that’s because if we keep the lake clean most people are too embarrassed to dirty it” said White. Friends of Lake Keowee (FOLKS) is a group of people, HOA’s, businesses and corporations who care about the quality of water in one of the most beautiful lakes in the Southeast: Lake Keowee. FOLKS plays an important role in monitoring water quality, organizing lake/shoreline clean up, tracking environmental issues that threaten the lake, providing information to the public on current issues and much more. Those who are interested in joining the organization and/or volunteering for this fall’s lake sweep can call FOLKS at: 864 882 3655.
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