Beach/Waterway Cleanup

Awareness & Understanding

Utah has no ocean, but it has rivers, reservoirs, and lakes that millions of people and animals depend on. The Jordan River runs 51 miles through the Salt Lake Valley. Utah Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the western United States. Bear Lake straddles the Utah-Idaho border. All of them face serious pollution problems — trash, runoff, and invasive species threaten the ecosystems that support fish, birds, and the communities nearby. Watch "The Story of Stuff" on YouTube for a quick explainer on where trash comes from and where it ends up. Visit the Jordan River Commission website (jrcommission.org) to see the current state of cleanup efforts. You're ready for the next step when you can name two specific waterways in Utah and explain how pollution harms them.

Research & Investigation

Research the organizations already doing waterway cleanup in Utah. The Jordan River Commission, Utah Clean Watershed Network, and Wasatch Clean Air Coalition all run volunteer events. Timpanogos Hiking Club and Friends of Great Salt Lake also organize cleanup days. Check their websites and social media pages for upcoming events — many run seasonal cleanups in spring and fall when weather is good. Look up data on the EPA's How's My Waterway tool (mywaterway.epa.gov) and search for Utah Lake or the Jordan River to see real water quality reports. You're ready for the next step when you've identified at least one organized cleanup event you could join and one independent site you could clean up on your own.

Planning & Preparation

Prepare for a safe and productive cleanup. Waterway sites can have sharp objects, slippery banks, and harmful bacteria — preparation matters. Gather your supplies: sturdy gloves, closed-toe shoes or waterproof boots, trash bags, and sunscreen. Download the free iNaturalist app to identify any wildlife or invasive plant species you encounter. If you plan to organize your own cleanup rather than join an existing one, notify the landowner or agency responsible — for Jordan River sites, contact Salt Lake County Parks. Use the free Cleanup Event Planning Guide from Keep America Beautiful (kab.org) to structure your event. You're ready for the next step when you have your supplies ready and a specific date, location, and plan in place.

Taking Action

Get out there and clean. Whether you join an organized event or run your own, spend at least two hours doing hands-on cleanup at a Utah waterway. Count and categorize the trash you collect — plastic bags, bottles, cigarette butts, fishing line — and record your totals. You can log your data with the Ocean Conservancy's Clean Swell app (it works for rivers and lakes too) to contribute to national research. Take before-and-after photos of the site. If you organized your own cleanup, track how many people showed up and how many bags you filled. You're ready for the next step when you've completed at least one cleanup event and logged your trash data with specific counts.

Leadership & Expansion

Now grow the movement. Recruit at least five other people — friends, family, classmates, or neighbors — to join you for a second cleanup or to organize one of their own. Share your before-and-after photos and trash data on social media, tagging organizations like the Jordan River Commission so they can amplify your work. Contact your local city council member or county commissioner to share your findings — elected officials respond to constituents who show up with data. You can also apply to lead a cleanup as a registered steward through the Jordan River Commission's volunteer program. You're ready for the next step when you've involved at least five other people in a cleanup action.

Impact & Reflection

Wrap up by measuring your impact and thinking about what comes next. Add up the total trash collected across all your cleanups, the number of volunteers you mobilized, and the sites you improved. Write a one-page summary you could share with a teacher, local news outlet, or community organization. Think about the bigger picture: waterway health connects to drinking water quality, wildlife habitat, community health, and climate resilience — all of them civic issues that need engaged citizens. Explore the Jordan River Parkway Foundation or the Utah Division of Water Quality's youth programs if you want to keep going. You're ready for the next step when you can clearly state the total impact of your cleanup work in numbers and explain why clean waterways matter to everyone in the Salt Lake Valley.