Paddle for Heroes is placing onion litter bag dispensers along the Muskingum Watershed access point to help keep litter out of the waterways.
They currently have dispensers placed at every access point along the Kokosing River, Greer Landing and Bridge of Dreams on the Mohican River and several along the Walhonding, Muskingum and Tuscarawas rivers. They have seen a reduction in litter on the Kokosing River because the onion bags are placed at access points.
Paddlers are encouraged to grab a bag before they launch their canoes, kayaks or tubes and tie it to their paddle craft. In the unlikely event of a rollover, trash and belonging will not become litter. Having them placed at every access point allows paddlers to return them when they are finished paddling for the day, or keep them as part of their river gear. They ask everyone to dispose of their trash in the proper receptacle.
Paddle for Heroes founder and president Steve Fleming learned of the onion bags when he paddled the Buffalo National River in 2019. The National Park service doesn’t allow plastic trash bags on the river; the service requires people to use onion litter bags to keep their trash in.
“The outfitter we used to spot are vehicles gave each member in our group an onion litter bag and explained that when you are on a river with small rapids where many paddlers flip their trash doesn’t go overboard, and plastic bags tend to rip open and become litter” said Fleming.
Fleming paddled the Sturgeon River in Northern Michigan the same year and noticed a local nonprofit, Sturgeon River Sweepers, had onion bag dispensers placed at access points.
“I ended up reaching out to them and participating in one of their clean-ups. They praised how much they kept litter down from previous years,” he said.
Fleming contacted Knox County Park District Director Lori Totman about placing them at Knox County Park District river access points. They received full support from the Knox County Park District.
Paddle for Heroes volunteer and U.S. Army veteran Curtis Castro went to work. Castro is a steward for the Kokosing River. He paddles the river weekly, picking up trash and reporting river hazards. Castro has fabricated over 40 dispensers and placed them at access points along the Muskingum Watershed. He checks on them weekly and makes contact with area park districts and nonprofits to help maintain and stock the dispensers.
The nonprofit’s next steps are to get area schools’ woodworking and art classes involved in fabricating and painting dispensers for future use along area rivers. They are also looking for area businesses and park districts to help sponsor the project.
Paddle for Heroes is a nonprofit organization that involves veterans, first responders and their families with river clean-ups, community projects and the therapeutic healing of paddling. Visit www.paddleforheroesmidwest.org to learn more.
