By Elizabeth McGowan

What weighs 97,367 pounds and smells?

No, not the nose of David's outsize nemesis, Goliath. It's the amount of trash 2,305 volunteers hoisted out of the Anacostia River and its feeder creeks during the Anacostia Watershed Society's Earth Day Cleanup in 2013.

This year's cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, April 5. And because coordinators expect to match or exceed last year's litter haul, it's fortunate Community Forklift has recruited a new team of participants.

Meg Kiernan, the Forklift's outreach and education program manager, is collaborating with neighboring nonprofits ECO City Farms and AWS to lead a first-time trash pickup along a stretch of the Anacostia River's Northeast Branch between the Forklift and Decatur Street in Edmonston. The 20 volunteers who signed up to participate at the Forklift's site will be ridding that section of trash between 9 am and noon. (Note: Registration at that site is full but volunteers can find others at http://www.anacostiaws.org/earthday2014/)

"This is about partnerships," Kiernan says about the Forklift's initial involvement with this cleanup. "We see ourselves as a place where people convene. Well, we're also a force of people who believe in a stronger community."

Connecting to the cleanup is inherent for a hands-on nonprofit with a mission of lifting up communities, she says.

"Picking up trash is something everybody can do that can make a difference in where we live," Kiernan says, adding that people often feel excluded when discussions about the environment and sustainability become too expert-centric. "We think this is a way to remove that barrier because this is an accessible and inclusive activity."

The Forklift and its around-the-corner ally, ECO City Farms, have overlapping green-centered outreach and education philosophies. Both intentionally selected Edmonston as their home base because of the town's burgeoning environmental ethic and the belief that they could help to plug a gap in a working-class community notably short on such services. ECO City Farms is a bold experiment in community-based, urban agriculture.

Litter is an eyesore and a health hazard, says ECO City's farm manager Deborah Wren, adding that those who take the time to pick up the rubbish left behind by others tend to have respect for their surroundings.

"Communities basically function like ecosytems," she says about the interwoven layers of life that rely on one another for sustenance.  

"When you strengthen your ecosystems, you strengthen your community and all of those ties and bonds that make your community healthy."

James Foster, AWS president since 2009, is grateful to all newcomers and veterans who are willing to bend at the waist to help stem this seemingly endless tide of waste that clogs the 8.5-mile river and its 13 major tributaries, which include Northeast Branch, Northwest Branch, Sligo Creek, Paint Branch and Indian Branch.

"Twenty of us here at the Anacostia Watershed Society are never going to clean up the river by ourselves," Foster notes. "That's why we need thousands of people. Our strategy is engagement, education and showing people that they can make a difference. One of the problems people can do something about is the trash."

The Anacostia River begins in Bladensburg at the confluence of the Northeast and Northwest branches and meets the Potomac River at Hains Point in the District of Columbia. Its remarkably vast watershed encompasses 176 square miles in Prince George's County, Montgomery County and D.C.Anacostia is derived from the Nacotchtank Indian word anaquash, which translates to village trading center.

AWS "adopted" its namesake river in 1989 with the goal of restoring it to a fishable and swimmable state. That was quite an undertaking for a waterway that had been treated as an open sewer for a couple of centuries. But Foster says it's a realistic goal for 2025 because this region has the resources, the leadership, the technology and the wherewithal to achieve such loftiness.

"It's an urban river so it's never going to be Perrier," says Foster, adding that at least a million residents call the watershed home. "We need to be aware that we all live downstream and that everything that happens on land, whether it involves trash dog poop, pesticides or lead paint, ends up in the river." 

Volunteers heeding AWS's annual Earth Day call have yanked more than 2 million pounds of trash from the Anacostia in the last 25 years. And that revolting litany of plastic bottles, soda cans, beer bottles, drinking straws, potato chip bags, candy and fast food wrappers, cigarette butts and other detritus that is unceremoniously dumped into the Anacostia-keep in mind that volunteers lugged 395 tires from the river during the 2013 cleanup-isn't the only type of pollutant choking the river. 

Less visible but equally threatening to the river is the untreated sewage that spews bacteria and other pathogens into the Anacostia when big rainstorms overwhelm old pipes ill-equipped to handle huge volumes of sewage and stormwater. Other nasties from development and industrial, commercial and residential sources include nitrogen, phosphorus, sediments, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

"Over the years, lots of people have been told not to go down to the river because it's dirty," Foster says. "We want to change that dynamic and show them that their well-being is intertwined with the river's health. Our aim is to make the Anacostia a destination."

In addition to cleanups, AWS also invites volunteers to plant trees, remove invasive vegetation, restore wetlands and stabilize streambanks. The nonprofit also organizes nature walks, bike rides, paddling events and pontoon boat rides to help local people discover and treasure the gems in their own back yard. Many are shocked to find they share the neighborhood with bald eagles, ospreys, cormorants, great blue herons and egrets, as well as turtles, beavers, otters and red foxes.

Repairing a damaged waterway isn't an overnight venture. Nor is it an undertaking for a single steward.

A shift must occur, Foster says, so that conservation advances such as green roofs, a tax on plastic bags, permeable surfaces, rain gardens, and trash traps positioned strategically in streams and outfalls are considered the "new normal" instead of environmentally exotic. Local businesses, nonprofits, governments, and faith-based organizations are uniting to push for such changes, he adds.

  "If everybody does a little bit," Foster concludes, "we can get a lot done."

30% Off Windows, Sashes and Shutters

All month take 30% off all windows, window sashes and shutters that are regularly priced $300 or less. Sale includes both surplus and salvaged items with orange tags, but does not include items with blue tags, vintage windows and sashes with wavy glass, stained glass, leaded glass, items from our consignment partners, or items with missing or damaged tags.  Old sashes are great for building cold frames for starting seeds! 

30% Off Doors

Take 30% off the orange sticker on doors that are regularly priced $300 or less. Sale includes interior and exterior doors. Sale does not include vintage and specialty items, items from our consignment partners, or items with missing or damaged tags.

20 Cent Bricks

Standard Rectangular Bricks, Solid and Cored are just .20 cents each all month long. Sorry, we are unable to place holds or allow storage on bricks! We have thousands in stock, so come ready to haul your purchase away! Sale does not include pavers, coping bricks, stone, slate, concrete blocks, or specialty items.

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Free Orphan Tile Pieces

We have a big stack of free tile in our yard. These items are damaged, but are useful for mosaics. Hurry in while supplies last. Free to take away, but donations are always appreciated!

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Take 50% off orphan cabinet drawers. Sale does not include cabinets or drawer hardware, items with missing or damaged price tags, specialty items, or items from our consignment partners.  Send us pictures of your creative ideas for 'em!