Volunteers sought for Jordan River cleanup

The Great Salt Lakekeeper is looking for volunteers to help in the group's next large-scale Jordan River cleanup project, this time targeting a garbage-plagued area of the river in northwest Salt Lake City.

The cleanup will go from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Volunteers of all ages are welcome and should show up at Cottonwood Park, next to the Utah Department of Agriculture, 350 N. Redwood Road. The cleanup will run along the river banks from North Temple to 1800 North. The work will be done on land, not in canoes or in the water.

Great Salt Lakekeeper director Jeff Salt said volunteers should wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts, sturdy shoes, hats and sunglasses and bring sunscreen, mosquito repellent "and a good attitude."

The cleanup is part of the group's summer-long river project. In July, about 100 volunteers removed 5 tons of garbage from along the river in South Salt Lake, focusing on an area that was a historic landfill.

And on Tuesday, the group pulled its 300th shopping cart from the river. Great Salt Lakekeeper began pulling carts from the river in 2000, and Salt said they remain one of the river's primary littering problems. On Tuesday alone, the group pulled seven carts from the three blocks between 700 North to 1000 North.

In addition to removing the carts from the river, the group has worked with the Smith's Food and Drug store in Salt Lake City's Glendale neighborhood to install anti-theft devices on the carts.

Saturday's cleanup will focus on the river's other major garbage problems — beer and pop bottles, aluminum cans and similar garbage.

"This is what we always see on the Jordan River," Salt said.

The group plans to try to keep recyclable materials and non-recyclable garbage separated. Aluminum cans, Salt said, will be cashed in, and the money will go toward funding future river cleanup projects.

Future cleanups will be Sept. 16 at Jordan Park in Salt Lake City and Oct. 14 in Murray.

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