CBC Hosts Living Lands & Waters for Mississippi River Clean-Up

On December 10, 2013, Canal Barge Company partnered with Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) to host a Mississippi River clean-up in New Orleans. Students enrolled in the AP Environmental Science program at Newman High School also joined CBC employees for the event. The energetic and passionate LL&W crew made the day educational and the group had a great time removing trash from the river bank.

Living Lands & Waters Founder and President Chad Pregracke grew up on the Mississippi River in East Moline, Illinois and has made it his mission to take care of neglected rivers. Most recently, Pregracke was awarded the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year award for his efforts in removing unsightly and toxic accumulations of trash along rivers’ banks. Check out the article and video on CNN’s website here.  Since 1998, nearly 70,000 volunteers have helped Pregracke and his non-profit remove more than 7 million pounds of garbage from 23 rivers across the country.

Living Lands & Waters was last in New Orleans in the fall of 2005 when they brought supplies down river and helped clean up after Hurricane Katrina. Pregracke said, “We are honored and pleased to have so much support in the New Orleans area.  We are happy to return, after 8 years, to bring the health of our rivers to the attention of everyone who depends upon them, and then working to improve it.”

We are proud to support such a great organization and give back to the river that has made 80 years of successful operations possible for CBC!