Litter Free Chicago-Calumet River
Friends has been at the forefront of cleaning up the river since 1992 when we founded Chicago River Day, a watershed-wide cleanup that engages thousands of volunteers annually. While there is much to celebrate about the river’s renaissance over the past 40 years, litter continues to be a persistent problem, but in a new form. As a result of our leadership, the river is no longer a dumping ground for large trash like old tires and shopping carts; today’s litter consists mainly of harmful plastics from food and product packaging. Though small, this litter has big impacts. It damages wildlife habitat; diminishes water quality; and causes negative community, economic, and public health impacts.
Our Litter Free Chicago-Calumet River initiative works to reduce the amount of trash harming our waterways by working with community and government leaders to develop strong public policy and comprehensive litter reduction programs. This multi-pronged approach includes litter research and engaging residents and companies in local cleanup efforts to keep our rivers clean for all.
Litter is harmful to the ecosystem, people and wildlife in countless ways - it trips or tangles us up in fishing line, leaks chemicals or creates sharp hazards. The tiniest pieces of trash are often being eaten by wildlife, disrupting their digestive systems, causing many to starve. Currently, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and the City of Chicago skimmer boats scoop trash from the river, removing an average annually of 3,095 cubic yards of debris, but it's not enough.
Studies show the economic costs of litter are considerable as well. According to Keep America Beautiful’s 2020 National Litter Study:
- Litter cleanup costs the U.S. an estimated $11.5 billion every year, with 80% of the cost paid by businesses.
- Property values decrease in a community by over 7% when the community has a prevalent litter issue. Some 60% of property appraisers would reduce a home’s value if it was littered.
- The litter-related economic consequences include loss in tourism, expenses to fix vehicles damaged by litter, negative public perception of a community when reports of local wildlife hurt by litter are in the news, and costs connected to avoidable injuries to animals and humans.
Litter Free Task Force
We need everyone's help to protect and restore our rivers for all people, water, and wildlife. In 2018, with support from Mars Wrigley Foundation, Friends began organizing the Litter Free Task Force to bring together businesses and non-profits like Shedd Aquarium, WM, and Loyola University Chicago to create resources, share information and promote events, behaviors, and policies working towards a Litter Free Chicago-Calumet River system. Each group brings perspective, resources and expertise that builds our ability to reduce litter and waste.
Data Collection Guides Solutions
One critical member of the task force is Loyola University’s Dr. Timothy Hoellein who studies river trash. Task Force members collect data during our cleanups cataloging it by material and by source to provide data specific to our city. All kinds of things are found in the river - cigarette butts, VHS tapes, action figures, plastic bottles, bags, car parts. Some are there by accident, carried by wind, stormdrains or animals, some are still dumped on purpose.
By far what is found is food packaging and plastics of all kinds.
Categorized by material:
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75 - 95% of litter from our rivers is plastic.
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About one-third of this plastic is polystyrene foam (for example, foam in food containers and packaging).
Categorized by source:
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58% of identifiable pieces of litter come from food-related items.
This data is closely aligned with national data. The increase in plastic production over the last 50 years is tremendous. In 1976, there was 50 million metric tons of plastic produced globally, by 2021, that number rose to an astronomical 390.7 million metric tons, according to Statista. Plastic breaks down into the hard-to-see-but increasingly present microplastics. Dr. Hoellein’s research found more than 93 percent of fish examined in the Chicago-area waterways have some form of plastic present inside them. While Friends works through partnerships to change policy on issues like single-use plastics, we also recognize the need for each of us to individually do what we can to attack this stubborn problem.
Together, by reducing plastic use, we and future generations will enjoy safer, healthier and more prosperous communities and rivers, and help address climate change by significantly decreasing the enormous amount of energy required for plastic production.
