$534
$267
59
0
Over the past 24 years, Living Lands & Waters has removed over 12 million pounds of garbage from 25 rivers in 21 states throughout the Mississippi River Watershed. Our crew lives aboard our traveling barge for up to nine months a year, hosting community cleanups and providing free educational workshops in our "floating classroom" to some 5,000 students annually. We have planted more than 1.8 million native trees throughout the region through our MillionTrees Project. With a crane, excavator, skid steers, workboats, and trucks, LL&W has grown to become the only "industrial strength" river cleanup organization like it anywhere in the world, using our heavy equipment to remove tens of thousands of tires, barrels, bottles, and more from our waterways.
LL&W crew live up to nine months a year on our traveling barge operation, visiting communities throughout the Mississippi River Watershed to host river cleanups, free education workshops, and native tree distribution and plantings. Each year, we work with thousands of volunteers and students as well as hundreds of local organizations, clubs, businesses, and sponsors in partnership to pursue our mission to restore, protect, and preserve our waterways and inspire the next generation of river stewards.
In addition to river cleanups, educational programming, and the MillionTrees Project, LL&W hosts invasive species removal projects in selected locations along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in partnership with local Parks and Recreation departments.
On a site near the Interstate 80 bridge over the Mississippi River, LL&W has been working on a prairie restoration project since 2017 with support from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The site is both a beautiful example of native prairie habitat but also a location for residents and visitors to learn about the prairie ecosystem.
Chad Pregracke, our founder, is asked to speak at many events each year, and his message is always meant to inspire individuals to take action: "One person can make a difference," he likes to say. The momentum of many individuals' actions then builds into a collective impact that we can all create together. This philosophy impacts the organization by building a welcoming, encouraging, grateful, and fun atmosphere for students and volunteers to feel a part of the collective impact.
Millions of pounds of garbage travel to the Gulf of Mexico from the creeks, streams, and rivers of the Mississippi River Watershed.
We have all heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but did you know that some estimates suggest up to 90% of ocean garbage started as upstream litter in the world's creeks, streams, and rivers? LL&W works to combat ocean pollution by stopping it at its source, removing more than 12 million pounds of garbage from the 25 rivers in 21 states since 1998. By providing free community-based river cleanup events and free educational workshops both in schools and on board our "floating classroom," LL&W works to inspire and connect local river communities to preserve, protect, and steward our waterways, working with thousands of volunteers and students each year.
Chad Pregracke grew up with the Mississippi River in his literal back yard in East Moline, Illinois. As a young man, he worked on the Mississippi as a commercial diver, and he was dismayed by the amount of garbage he found littering the river. After numerous attempts to reach out to local lawmakers went unanswered, Chad began cleaning up the Mississippi River on his own, using a small boat and a lot of determination. However, soon he began to attract media attention and was able to establish a small nonprofit with a small crew who began living and traveling on a small houseboat, hosting community cleanups along the Mississippi River and beyond.
Chad's small nonprofit quickly grew into the only "industrial strength" river cleanup organization anywhere like it in the world. With a fleet of five barges, an excavator, crane, tugboat, skid steers, work boats, and trucks, LL&W crew are able to work with thousands of volunteers to remove hundreds of tons of garbage each year.
Chad and the crew have received national media attention and Chad has received more than 40 awards for his work, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service and 2013 CNN Hero of the Year.
LL&W is a very unique organization — not many jobs require that employees live on board a house barge for most of the year! This commitment to living on the river means that the LL&W crew are some of the most dedicated, passionate, and informed educators and leaders that volunteers and students will meet. By bringing people to the river to engage with their local waterway, LL&W crew provides an experience for people to connect with their local stretch of river and feel a part of a collective impact. The popular "DJ Boat" also helps — cleanups have an upbeat and collaborative atmosphere that empowers people to feel like they can take part in caring for their local waterways.
1. Pounds of garbage removed from the rivers and how many rivers we visited
2. Number of native hardwood trees distributed and planted
3. Number of students who received free watershed education
4. Number of volunteers who participated in community-based river cleanups.
To date since 1998:
1. Over 12 million pounds and counting!
2. Over 1.8 million trees and counting!
3. Over 20,000 students and counting!
4. Over 120,000 volunteers and counting!
Would you give $4 a month to support four nonprofits that are making a big difference? Join forces with other 52andChangmakers to automatically give to every Cause of the Week. Every Monday, you’ll wake up knowing you’ve already made a difference! As our community grows, so does the impact!
Together we’ve become volunteers in places we would have never expected, planted milkweed for butterflies, provided books to kids in need, helped save endangered turtles, helped turn excess food into nutrition, helped bring art to youth, educated one another about how we are connected to our delicate food systems, helped save abandoned horses and given old dogs new hope, watched foster youth shine in the spotlight of movie making, helped clean tires out of rivers… we could go on and on and on. It is an absolute joy to be a part of such an amazing network of humans making a difference.
“ALMA reconnects the lives of the formerly incarcerated back to the fabric of society. Our participants have the chance at attaining gainful employment and becoming self-sufficient. Urban Farming helps everyone involved explore the relationships between plants, animals and humans as a way of creating a profound connection to both nature and their community.” - ALMA Backyard Farms
While we’re writing this and you’re reading it, Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes is out there, finding ways to provide food to more people in need throughout Santa Cruz County, where one of three residents are reported to be food insecure.
ChangeMaker Login
Share