March+Creek+Big+Sweep

On Saturday morning, I attended the Marsh Creek big sweep. This was not my first big sweep that I have attended, but it was definitely one of the most concentrated with trash. Even upon arriving, there was trash littered all over the curb of the bridge, and we had not even gone near the actual creek yet. What surprised me even more was that there was a trash can that was visible to me just across the street, which is outright ridiculous. After recovering over three tires (which was apparently a low), a chair, a mattress, and bags of trash / recycling, one thing caught my attention. Just in the span of an hour and a half, an area that we had cleaned up earlier already had some trash littered around it.

After this event, it showed me how much preservation of wildlife and the creek is vital. Parnell Bell, the man that ran the event, told us about the fish in Raleigh. He said that he would caution from eating any fish native to Raleigh due to the poor conditions in bodies of water. He backed this up after pulling out sheets of rusted metal and other plastics from the extremely turbid water of the creek. We also found a turtle within the stream, so there obviously is not a lack of wildlife in these areas, it is simply poorly kept and treated.