MACON, Ga. — When you wake up in the morning, some people may take a trip to the gym, while others get out and enjoy mother nature. Ahead of summer, community leaders are asking you to help keep the Ocmulgee River clean.
Each morning at Amerson River Park, it's not uncommon to see people like Jim Beall enjoying a stroll.
"It's beautiful. You're out in nature, there is something new every time I come out," Beall said.
And he's a fan of the Ocmulgee.
"I love it. It is just a clean beautiful river," Beall said.
Robert Jackson with Float Daze says the river may look nice, but litter gives it a darker brown color.
"Over the past couple of years we have found countless tires, we found a side-by-side refrigerator last year, we floated it down, took six guys to pull it out," Jackson said.
Since 2016, Jackson and volunteers have cleaned up the river 12 times.
"We have probably pulled out over 10,000 pounds of trash, something around there," Jackson said.
With temperatures heating up, Jackson says litter inside and outside the park all lead to the Ocmulgee River.
"Everybody throws trash in the street, all those got to end up somewhere, when it washes into the creek, and the creek floods, it floods to the river, and that's where all of our trash comes from," Jackson said.
With the hopes of keeping the river clean, Jackson is hosting two cleanups this month.
"We just walked the trails, we just gathered up all the trash, we did very well on that one, gathering up a bunch of tires and piping," Jackson said.
Jackson says the cleanups will be hard work, but the finished product makes it worth it.
"It does not get much better with that, hanging on the sand bar with a bunch of people you know, going off the rope swing, going off on the tubes, it is a lot of fun," Jackson said.
He added you can help out by leaving Styrofoam coolers at home and exchanging plastic bottles for reusable ones. Additionally, he says you also want to make sure your trash makes it a trash can.
The first river cleanup will be hosted on May 11th. The second one will be on May 25th. Both will be at Amerson River Park.
If you go out to clean the river, Jackson requests you bring trash bags, gloves, and a life jacket.