The Thames River Cleanup is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.
OXFORD COUNTY - The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority is bestowing a special honour to the organizer of the Thames River Cleanup.
Todd Sleeper is the 2019 UTRCA Community Conservation Award winner. Sleeper says this year will mark the 20th anniversary of the cleanup.
"We started it because it wasn't safe to swim in the water anymore because of glass and wire and stuff and then they were warning us not to eat the fish, because things were getting pretty polluted and we just decided that something needed to be done."
World Water Day is happening on Friday and one of the focuses this year is to reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans and water systems. Sleeper says he has found plenty of plastic in the Thames River over the past 20 years.
"We found a lot of plastic, that is what we are fighting today, we really need to stop producing so much plastic, it blows out of backyards, it blows out of our garbage on garbage day and it ends up in our water."
Ian Wilcox, UTRCA General Manager, says they wanted to give Todd this award because of the amazing work he has done over the years.
"The Thames River Clean Up has been a huge success in improving watershed health and increasing community awareness about the river. We owe Todd much gratitude for his ongoing commitment the Thames River Clean Up."
They are still looking for more volunteers to sign up for the 2019 clean up. You can find more information on how you can help online here.
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