BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama Power’s commitment to the waterways they manage is unparalleled. Look no further than the company’s Renew Our Rivers program.

What began as a cleanup of a section of the Coosa River by Alabama Power employees in 2000 has evolved into the nation’s largest river cleanup program, now known as Renew Our Rivers. Since the program’s inception in 2000, 16 million pounds of trash have been collected by more than 120,000 volunteers.

And the efforts continue.

On Day 3 of REDCREST – while 20 anglers competed on Lay Lake in the Knockout Round – the MLF Fisheries Management Division (FMD), MLF staff, Bass Pro Tour anglers Gary Klein and Grae Buck, and Alabama Power staff kicked off Renew our Rivers’ Logan Martin weeklong cleanup. Alabama Power’s Environmental Affairs Specialist Mike Clelland captained the company’s cleanup barge to secluded areas of the lake with Klein and Buck while MLF staff and FMD led the cleanup on the shoreline at Pell City Lakeside Park.

“It’s outstanding to see the effort this community puts into keeping their lake beautiful, and I’m humbled to be part of this kickoff event,” Buck said.

At the end of the morning, the cleanup teams met and offloaded the barge full of trash at the city dumpsters provided for the weeklong event. FMD also submitted the total numbers of bags collected into Johnson Outdoors Clean Earth Challenge, which was launched in 2022 as a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation. This project is closing in on its goal of collecting 4 million pieces of litter cby Earth Day.

If you are participating in a cleanup, sign up to submit your collection to the Johnson Outdoors Clean Earth Challenge.

To learn more about Renew Our Rivers visit apcshorelines.com, download the Alabama Power Shorelines app. To view the schedule for upcoming events near you, go to the Renew Our Rivers events page.