Special Thanks to Xstream Cleanup Volunteers and Sponsors!!

To view pictures & see the results of Xstream Cleanup 2011, visit www.xstreamcleanup.org

Xstream Cleanup 2011 will be held Saturday, August 13 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in Bettendorf, Davenport, LeClaire and McCausland, Iowa and East Moline, Milan, Moline, Rock Island and Silvis, Illinois.

Last year, Xstream Cleanup volunteers removed approximately 50,573 pounds of debris from area waterways and illegal dumping sites. Cleanups were held at 42 locations in the Quad City Area. For more information about Xstream Cleanup visit www.xstreamcleanup.org.

Register now at www.xstreamcleanup.org!  

*All volunteers must register before August 5th to be guaranteed a free T-Shirt.   

THANK YOU 2011 XSTREAM CLEANUP SPONSORS

In Conjunction with:

Great Mississippi River Cleanup

Presenting Sponsors: Riverboat Development Authority, Group O

Platinum Sponsors: Alcoa, iLivehere, Living Lands & Waters                       

Gold Sponsors: Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, Rock Island County Waste Management Agency and THE National Bank 

Silver Sponsors: Allied Waste, Alter Metal Recycling, DHL Global Forwarding, Independent Insurance Agents of Scott County, McCarthy Bush Corporation, Mel Foster Company, Oystar Packaging Technolgies, Quad City Conservation Alliance and Sears Manufacturing 

Logistics Sponsors: Cities of Bettendorf, Davenport, East Moline, LeClaire, McCausland, Milan, Moline, Rock Island and Silvis. Bi-State Regional Commission, Keep Rock Island Beautiful, Partners of Scott County Watersheds, Radish Magazine, River Roots Live and Waste Commission of Scott County     

With Help From: Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Eastern Iowa Grain Inspection, Midas Auto Systems Experts,Inc. and Wallaces Garden Center

Make plans to visit our iLivehere booth at the 3rd Annual Watershed Festival on Saturday, July 16 from 8am to 1pm at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in Downtown Davenport. We’ll be educating attendees on how to get involved in local cleanups, how to prevent and report litter and illegal dumping and proper disposal of hazardous materials and medications, all which support better water quality for our community!

The Watershed Festival is a free, family friendly event, which offers the opportunity to not only learn about water and protecting water quality, but to experience it through song, dance, and interactive demonstrations, displays and activities. Free Face Painting and Water Cycle Charm Bracelet to all children in attendance.

For more information visit www.cityofdavenportiowa.com/watershed.

2011 QC Enviro-Kids Flier and Registration Form

 2011 Schedule

June 11: Investigating Water Quality and Water Critters at Nahant Marsh, 4220 Wapello Avenue, Davenport. Learn to be a water detective. Enviro- Kids will learn about water testing for pollution and will learn how to catch and identify critters in the marsh. The day will also include a hike around the marsh to look for plants and animals that use the marsh as their home.

June 25: Fishing & Water Safety at Vander Veer Park, 215 East Central Avenue, Davenport. Learn how to cast, bait the hook and take a fish off the line.

July 9: Canoeing & Kayaking at West Lake Park, 14910-110th Aveue, Davenport.

July 23: Stormwater Service at Wessel Park, 26th and Oak Street, Bettendorf. Be the solution to water pollution! Join us for a stormwater scavenger hunt, rain garden planting and storm drain marking.  

July 30: Farm to Farmer’s Market. Meet at Freight House Farmer’s Market, 421 West River Drive, Davenport, where we’ll learn about the importance of locally grown produce. We’ll travel to Miss Effie’s Farm near Donahue where we’ll see how the foods at Farmer’s Market ended up there. Bussing available on first come first serve basis.

All events are weather dependent. Registration is limited and is on a first come first serve basis.

For more information call 563-468-4218.

For years, we’ve partnered with the City of Davenport and United Neighbors to offer CleanSweep, which has historically been a one-day cleanup of debris in neighborhoods throughout Davenport. However, this year, we’ve expanded our scope. The City of Davenport secured funding to plant 501 trees throughout the City in just five hours! No small feat considering each of the trees is 6-8 ft in height! That’s where we need your help.

We’re looking for groups and individuals to volunteer to help plant trees and/or clean up litter throughout Davenport on Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. As an added bonus, you’ll receive a free Cleanup and Greenup T-shirt if you register by April 1! And it gets better. All volunteers are invited to a lunch, which includes live music and tours, at Davenport Public Works, 1200 East 46th Street, beginning at 11 a.m!

Register today and find out more at www.cityofdavenportiowa.com/cg.

Teachers, home schools, libraries, after-school programs, churches and other organizations who focus on educating youth in the Quad Cities can request a DVD at no charge. Call Scott Area Recycling Center at 563-386-9575 or e-mail a request to evorac@wastecom.com. Or the videos can be viewed on our iLivehere YouTube page.

 All of the videos are hosted by “Scott Green—The Recycle Guy,” who is played by a local actor, and were filmed at Waste Commission of Scott County’s four facilities: Scott Area Landfill, Scott Area Recycling Center, Household Hazardous Material Facility and the Electronic Demanufacturing Facility. Liz Lareau PR, Inc. of Moline wrote the scripts and dphilms of Rock Island produced and edited the videos. Read more.

Take a look in your medicine cabinet. Chances are it contains old, outdated and unused prescription and non-prescription medications.  So flush them down the toilet, right? Not so fast. Recent studies have shown trace amounts of pharmaceuticals ending up in water supplies and negatively affecting aquatic life.

It’s not just a water quality issue, though. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that prescription drug abuse in the U.S. is increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

In the Quad Cities area, a group of organizations, led by Waste Commission of Scott County, has been addressing this issue for five years through its annual Operation Medicine Cabinet Event. This year’s event will take place September 23, 24 and 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the following locations:

• Eldridge, Thursday, September 23. Medic EMS Facility, LeClaire Road & Highway 61.
• Bettendorf, Friday, September 24. Bettendorf Fire Station, Middle Road & Crow Creek Road.
• Davenport, Saturday, September 25. Scott Area Recycling Center, 5640 Carey Avenue.

During this event, residents can safely dispose of old medications, exchange mercury thermometers for a digital, pick up and drop off sharps containers, and have data-sensitive documents shredded free of charge. New this year, residents can also safely dispose of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, which contain mercury.

Find out more information about Operation Medicine Cabinet through Waste Commission of Scott County. Visit www.wastecom.com or call 563-381-1300.

iLivehere, with the help of Waste Commission of Scott County staff members, helps to coordinate Xstream Cleanup each August.

This year was the 7th annual Xstream Cleanup, which was held on Saturday, August 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Over 1,200 volunteers gave up their Saturday morning to get dirty and sweaty. That’s hard work!

The hardest work I did on Saturday figuring out how to get photos from 42 different site coordinators downloaded and then uploaded correctly to our public album! Luckily, we worked out all of the bugs. There are hundreds of really cool  photos on our Flickr site so be sure to check those out! You’ll be amazed at what these volunteers dug up!

So, thank you to the volunteers, coordinators and sponsors who made Xstream Cleanup 2010 possible. Without all of you, the following would not have been possible:

• Cleanups at 42 locations in Bettendorf, Davenport and LeClaire, Iowa; Campbell’s Island, Coal Valley, East Moline, Milan, Rock Island and Silvis, Illinois
• 50,573 pounds of debris from area waterways and dump sites
• 1,243 volunteers worked a total of 3,394 hours
• Removed 1,287 bags of trash, 682 tires, 14 appliances, 10 bicycles, 25 pieces of furniture, 13 televisions and 16 mattresses

Plus, cleaned up all of these things:

• Automotive-related items (bumper, muffler, van seats, front of car, rims, engine head, doors, battery, gas cans)
• Home items (carpet, shingles, siding, sink, chandelier, storm door, laundry basket, filing cabinet, air conditioner, six grills, four toilets, clothing, blankets)
• Metal (fence, pipe, sheet metal, iron tubes, tools, 80 lb metal chain)
• Kids’ items (car seat, sled, swing set, slide, inflatable pool, kite, stroller)
• Large items (farm implements, lawn mower, car, part of a camper, two boats, bench grinder, railroad hand cart)
• Electronics (VCRs, TVs, computers)
• Miscellaneous (tiki light, Bettendorf HS sign, fisherman’s basket with fish, traffic light, bowling ball, wheelbarrow, channel buoy, shopping carts, eight barrels, picnic bench, gas station sign, Styrofoam, 5-gallon buckets)

And conducted these beautification efforts:

• Nahant Marsh: removed 33 cubic yards of invasive species
• North High School grounds: pulled 75 invasive trees and shrubs and planted 175 native plants
• West Lake Park: removed one acre of invasive honeysuckle (the equivalent of 150 mature plants).
• Duck Creek at Middle Park in Bettendorf: removed 40 garbage bags of invasive species
• Duck Creek at Fairmount in Davenport: removed three 30-yard dumpsters of woody invasive species

2 of the sites are in ravines and are definitely what we call “heavy duty”. They contain items such as tires, old toilets, carpet, bikes, strollers, doors, pallets, etc. The other 2 sites are lighter duty and mostly contain general litter.

We hope to hear from you!

1. It’s a free event, so you’ll save some green. Bring the whole family. There’s lots of fun activities that can keep you entertained for hours.

2. The first 500 adults through the door receive a free recycled plastic coffee mug. The mug is green in more ways than one! (1) It’s green…literally. (2). It’s Made in the USA. (3) It’s made from post-consumer plastics. (4) It’s free!

3. The first 50 attendees at each Green Lifestyle Workshop receive a green giveaway and are entered in a drawing to win a larger item valued at $50.

11:00 am: “Backyard Composting 101: Transform Trash into Treasure.” Free compost pail made of recycled plastic to the first 50. All attendees are entered to win a backyard compost bin.

12:30 pm: “Raise Your Baby the ‘Green’ Way! A Workshop for Moms and Dads of Wee Ones.” Free infant cloth diaper to the first 50 from Greenbottoms. All attendees are entered into a drawing for a basket of healthy, eco-friendly, baby-licious stuff!

2:00 pm: “The Carbon Footprint of a Cheeseburger: How to Green your Dinner Plate with Local Foods.”  Free local beef stick from Sawyer Beef and a bag of local, organic popcorn from Oak Hill Acres Organic Farm to the first 50. All attendees are entered to win a Buy Fresh Buy Local shopping bag filled with local food items and a gift certificate to the farmers market.

4. Get “green” education. More than 60 booths from environmental organizations, businesses, groups and local governments will be on display. Hands-on activities, crafts, games, demonstrations, literature and environmental professionals. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts can work toward several environmental badges.

Find out more at www.qcearthweek.org.