You can help keep your rivers clean. Local groups join forces each year to clean up local rivers. You'll have a variety of dates and locations to choose from. And you can either walk or paddle a canoe in the clean-up effort.
Learn more about volunteering - contact Linda Raterman at Miami Soil and Water Conservation District, (937) 335-7645 x230.
To learn more about volunteering, contact the Trout Unlimited Mad River Chapter.
What started in 1986 as two MCD lab technicians grumbling about trash on a sampling trip has grown into the Clean Sweep of the Great Miami River — a volunteer cleanup that now stretches the river's entire 170-mile length, from Indian Lake at the headwaters all the way to Shawnee Lookout Park at the Ohio River. Each year, local sectional leaders, soil and water conservation districts, park districts, schools, scout troops, and corporate groups "adopt" a stretch of river near them, then walk the banks or paddle canoes to pull out trash, tires, and the occasional truly bizarre find.
Learn more and find a location near you at the Clean Sweep of the Great Miami River Watershed website.
Clean Sweep, by the numbers
- 170 miles of river cleaned, Indian Lake to the Ohio River
- ~850 tons of trash and tires removed since record-keeping began in 1987 — nearly the weight of three fully loaded Boeing 777-300 aircraft
- 369 tons removed since 2005, including nearly 7,000 tires
- 17,000+ volunteers have taken part since 2005
- 2025 results: more than 800 volunteers removed nearly 12 tons of trash in a single year
Dates and locations are set by local sectional leaders, so check the Clean Sweep locations page closer to the date for the site nearest you, or contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District. If you're near the Ohio River itself, the Ohio River Sweep is another option.
Nearly four decades of Clean Sweeps have turned up more than just bottles and cans. Volunteers have hauled out a 30-foot section of guardrail, a 42-inch riding lawn mower, a popped safe, a dirt bike, and — memorably — about 1,500 coat hangers in a single haul. One especially striking find: Ohio EPA volunteers paddling the Piqua-to-Sidney stretch once spotted what turned out to be a 2,500–3,000-year-old skull cap from the Adena period of Ohio's early peoples. It was identified by Dayton's SunWatch Village, the descendant tribes were notified, and the artifact now resides at the Boonshoft Museum, out of public display.
Clean Sweep isn't just about appearances. Trash and tires along the riverbank degrade water quality, damage habitat for fish and wildlife, and reduce the recreational appeal of a river that hundreds of thousands of Southwest Ohioans rely on for drinking water, paddling, and fishing. Every bag of trash pulled out is one less load of debris and pollutants that storm water would otherwise carry downstream. It's also one of the most visible, hands-on ways neighbors across 15 counties demonstrate shared stewardship of the watershed they all live in.
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