Volunteers kick off spring cleaning season at Lincoln Creek

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The spring cleaning season is about more than tidying up the home. Campaigns are underway across southeast Wisconsin to make the outdoors a better place and one of them is focused on local waterways. Volunteers were out at Lincoln Creek near 47th and Congress to kick off the season of trash pick up.

This is the second year of "Adopt-a-River" hosted by Milwaukee Riverkeepers and supported by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. About 75 volunteer groups clean stretches of the 875 miles of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers at least twice a year. 

In the two years of the program, volunteers have collected 19,000 pounds of trash. Organizers say it's critical to keep our local rivers clean, "These rivers go to Lake Michigan, which is the source of our drinking water supply. A lot of plastic and other debris in the river can be harmful for fish and other aquatic life in there. Especially if it breaks down into smaller anabolic smaller pieces. Things like styrofoam never really go away," said Cheryl Nenn.

Milwaukee Riverkeepers big event is April 27 for their 24th annual Spring Cleanup which brings out 4,000 volunteers to clean up trash. To participate click here.