Dundalk's Bread and Cheese Creek Cleanup collects 3.5 tons of trash and debris

On Saturday, Nov. 6, 107 volunteers showed up to Bread and Cheese Creek in Baltimore County, Maryland, to clean up the historic War of 1812 site. Through this hands-on restoration event, the “Clean Bread and Cheese Creek” group helped to bring the local community together and teach people about the effect humans can have on the environment.

The 3.5 tons of trash that were collected at the creek included 2.5 tons of metal, 21 tires and 14 shopping carts. Other notable items found in the creek include three bicycles, two boogie boards, a washing machine, a pool table, an industrial warehouse fan, a playpen, a seesaw and a bowling ball.

The group's founder, John Long, planned to recycle all of the metal removed from the creek to raise money to fund the next cleanup, scheduled for April 2, 2011. “I hope that helping to instill pride in the stream and its important past will foster an attitude of stewardship rather than indifference,” Long wrote in an e-mail to volunteers and supporters of the cleanup.

The extent of the trash and debris found in the creek shows that polluted stormwater runoff and dumping of large objects are major problems in the Chesapeake Bay's local creeks and streams. Trash can seriously damage the habitat and wildlife in and around waterways.

To learn more about Clean Bread and Cheese Creek and the fall cleanup, check out the links below:

Before the cleanup

Volunteers working in Bread and Cheese Creek on 11/6/10

After the cleanup

Shopping cart image courtesy Clean Bread and Cheese Creek.