VOLUME 36

Doug Keeley

Please visit our website at www.themarkofaleader.com

THE RIVER’S GARBAGE MAN

As a parent I am forever trying to get my son to clean up after himself - his garbage, his room, his stuff scattered around the house. I do it with the hope that if he learns early, the habits will stay with him. Unfortunately a lot of kids apparently don’t learn basic cleanup, and we’re all paying the price.

Enter Superman.

Chad Pregracke grew up along the banks of two of the most important rivers in America - the Mississippi and the Illinois. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Mississippi in particular in the development and current operation of the country - the largest waterway linking many of the America’s most important trading cities.

The river was always part of his life.

His grandmother lived right on the banks of the Mississippi. As a teenager, he dove its waters for shells and worked on barges to earn money. The more he did, the more he was overcome by how much garbage littered its bed by how the marine population was dwindling, in no small part, he assumed, by the fact that it was becoming a human garbage dump.

This wasn’t just the candy wrappers and beer bottles that my neighborhood teenagers think belong on my lawn. It was tires, appliances, vehicles, furniture and more, littering the banks and shorelines covering the river bottom.

Because this was his backyard he decided to do something about it. So he did what we all should - went to his local government officials to try to get something done.

Sadly, his pleas fell on deaf ears. He started at the local level, moved to County and State officials, and then tried National. None of the elected officials he approach were interested. Obviously there were not enough votes tied up in whether or not there was a Mississippi River in 50 or 100 years.

Frustrated, and with the energy of a young man in his 20s, he decided to take matters into his own hands in 1997. With nothing but an old fishing boat, he set out to clean the 2500 miles of the Mississippi, one garbage bag at a time.

His enthusiasm was infectious, friends soon joined in, and a year later, in 1998, he formed the not-for-profit Living Lands and Waters and managed to raise some money from local corporations and add a barge to the fleet.

A few people against the river was a daunting task, but soon the magic of Chad’s simple idea took root - volunteerism. As he and his tiny team traveled the river, they would enlist volunteers from the local communities to help. After all, it was their backyard.

Now it was hundreds of people against a manageable piece of geography. And the word began to spread. Up and down the Mississippi, across the Illinois, and out into America.

He raised enough money from local businesses and multinational companies like Alcoa and Anheuser-Bush that he expanded the fleet and formed a fulltime staff. Today he has a team of fulltime employees and small fleet of barges along with the thousands of volunteers who come out every year. His team lives on the river in a barge also equipped with a classroom.

And has he made a difference? Well here are a few of the things his team pulled out of the river or off its banks in 2007: about 55,000 bags of trash, 52,195 tires, 178 washing machines, 4 cars, 12,291 balls, 830 chairs, 32 couches, 1 truck, 10 football fields of Styrofoam, 2 pianos, 18 tractors, 51 boats, 4,963 55 gallon drums, 4 cars and a truck.

As depressing as this is perhaps the most refreshing thing about his mission is that Chad says he seldom has to go back to a community. Once it is clean, the residents tend to keep it clean. Maybe there is hope.

For his efforts, Chad was honored in 2002 with the Jefferson Award, America’s version of the Nobel prize for public service. Other winners that year included Rudy Giuliani, and Bill & Melinda Gates. Not bad for a kid from the river. He has been the subject of many television programs and stories and recently published a book.

Cleaning America’s biggest waterway is a formidable task - ‘impossible’ to some people. Chad Pregracke is a shining example that we can all make a difference as individuals; if we band together, we can do anything.

Imagine - rivers we can swim in again. Now there’s a nice thought.

You can help Chad and everyone else in North America by going to www.livinglandsandwaters.org and buying his book, making a donation, or volunteering.