Bob Nock can’t remember a summer quite like this one, and it’s costing him money. Nock owns Eagle River Anglers in Eagle. The business runs guided trips along the Eagle River and elsewhere. The “elsewhere”.
The numbers don’t lie; skipping a year of the highway cleanup results in twice as much trash the following year.
The Eagle River Watershed Council shared their 2021 Community Pride Highway Cleanup numbers with the Vail Daily on Monday, along with the numbers from other recent years.
Before this year, the last five highway cleanups had yielded, on average, about 12 tons of trash per year.
This year, volunteers collected 22 tons of trash after the 2020 cleanup was canceled due to COVID-19.
That number sounded all too predictable, said Holly Loff with the Eagle River Watershed Council.
“I’ve said, for years, that the average amount of trash that gets put down on our highways in an average year is about 10 to 12 tons,” Loff said. “So the fact that we didn’t do it last year, and there’s about 22 tons, tells me that’s about right.”
John Packer grabs a plastic bag Saturday near Wolcott during the Eagle River Watershed Council Community Pride Highway Cleanup. Packer is the owner of Fly Fishing Outfitters and said their group participates every year and plays a game to find the most common beer bottle or can.
About 1,000 volunteers turned out to clean the highways of Eagle County on Saturday in the Eagle River Watershed Council’s Community Pride Highway Cleanup.
It’s an annual event, but last year was canceled amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus, and the trash continued accumulating.
This year, Holly Loff with the Watershed Council was able to participate in her first highway cleanup, as she’s usually busy organizing the after-party. Loff said she had people approaching her in the grocery store, asking when and if the cleanup was taking place.