Callie Schafer and Rachel Loomis are two women working with non-profit Living Lands and Waters, doing “industrial strength” river clean-up throughout the United States.
In 2021, the group collected over half a million pounds of trash across seven rivers throughout the U.S, with 63% of that from the Ohio River. It’s a source of drinking water for over 5 million Americans and a body of water experts say is polluted by a layered and systematic “environmental death of a thousand cuts.”
In 2021, the group collected over half a million pounds of trash across seven rivers throughout the U.S, with 63% of that from the Ohio River. It’s a source of drinking water for over 5 million Americans and a body of water experts say is polluted by a layered and systematic “environmental death of a thousand cuts.”
Over the last two decades, the group has carved out a small pocket of positive change. Driven by hard work, education and empathy, their mission is not just environmental restoration, but a bonding experience between each other and our natural resources along the river towns and muddy shorelines of rural America.
“Recycling should be marketed as patriotic,” said founder Chad Pregracke. “And I think if more people thought about conserving America’s resources in that way, more would do it. This is one of those cool things that creates an outlet for people to do good.”
“Recycling should be marketed as patriotic,” said founder Chad Pregracke. “And I think if more people thought about conserving America’s resources in that way, more would do it. This is one of those cool things that creates an outlet for people to do good.”