#CleanMyWater

Take a float on many of our rivers or streams across the Southeast and you’ll see trash – sometimes a lot of it. Tons of waste - especially plastic items in all shapes and forms - are discarded every year polluting lands, rivers, streams, lakes and the otherwise wild and beautiful places we love.

Every day, Trout Unlimited members and chapters are out in their communities coordinating stream cleanups and encouraging others to pick up fishing monofilament or discarded plastic bottles and put them in their backpacks to get those things out of our waterways. Yet, few folks know of the magnitude of our collective impact. We know that by engaging more people we can get more done.

The #CLEANMYWATER Instagram Campaign was developed in 2018 by the Upper Chattahoochee Chapter to increase the chapter's conservation impact by leveraging the power of social media. A contest with prizes was initiated to encourage anglers to remove trash from local streams and rivers, either through concerted, organized efforts like a stream cleanup day or simply while they are already out fishing. Working with UCCTU in 2020, TU’s Southeast Volunteer Coordinator, Jeff Wright, will expand the scope of the #CLEANMYWATER campaign across the Southeast region.