08/2005

Newton Tab

In Search of Garbage

By Sarah Andrews, CNC Staff Writer

    "Take a look at this river!," Tom McNichol exclaimed, gesturing to the Charles River from behind the control center of his 17-foot aluminum boat as he motored off from the Nonantum public ramp.  "You could be in the middle of the Okeechobee Swamp!"

    On a sunny, Thursday morning, with nets and picks in tow, McNichol, 67, steered the Charles River Cleanup Boat toward Cambridge and Boston in search of garbage.  And judging from the candy wrappers and grass on the boat floor, it wasn't his first trip out that week.

    "When I can only fll these two buckets," he said, referring to a 20- and a seven-gallon bucket, "Then I know the river is clean."

    A Framingham resident and Nobles-Greenough School sailing coach for five years, McNichol has spent a lot of time on the waters of the Charles.  And last year, he got fed up.

    "It was just covered in trash," he said.  "And I had a theory that it was a lot of the same trash.  Because the river is dammed, it is more like a pond than a river.  So you keep seeing the same plastic cup, the same bag, the same condom going back and forth, day after day."

    McNichol decided to take matters into his own hands.  He found a run-down Grumman boat, enlisted some volunteers, secured a modest donation from the Duck Tour Company, and began cruising the river, picking up trash out of it several days a week.

    Funded by private donations from companies along the river, McNichol said the Cleanup Boat volunteers have been able to make a noticeable difference in the appearance of the water, though he admits they're somewhat constrained by a small budget.

    "I believe in the Walt Disney factor," he said.  "If you keep it clean, people will tend not to throw trash in it."

    Because the boat had been out five times since the Aug. 5 thunderstorms, the river looked pretty good last month.  McNichol picked up volunteer Robert Canterbury, 59, at B.U. and the two scanned the riverbanks and water in Cambridge and Boston for any left over or new debris, finding plenty near the Museum of Science.

    "Are you going to talk about that or are you going to pick it up?"  McNichol teased Canterbury, who was trying to stab a Doritos bag with a pick as McNichol spun the boat around.

    "Well, are you going to give me a fighting chance?" Canterbury retorted.

    While keeping the river looking nice is the Cleanup Boat's main goal, both men agree it's not a bad way to spend a day.

    "I haven't met one jerk [out here] yet," said McNichol.

    And, they are both frequently shocked by some of the larger pieces of debris they find.  In the past year, they've discovered a dead body by the B.U. bridge, a fully upholstered armchair, a tw0-foot Buddha statue by the Royal Sonesta Hotel and a porta-potty.

    "We couldn't get that one out, so we tied it to the Longfellow Bridge" and called the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said McNichol.

    "The mind boggles at some of the trash we find," said Canterbury.  "Ya know, it's like, what are people doing?"

    McNichol and Canterbury said now their focus is on fundraising and developing more partnerships with state and private organizations.

    Currently, they exist on small donations and rely on the DCR to haul away the trash they pick up, which they leave for collection down by the Hatch Shell.

    Small debris makes up the bulk of what they fish out and they try to stick to their rules of thumb--they don't remove organic matter and they try to stay clear of the riverbanks, though sometimes they can't help themselves from snagging a soda bottle or two from those.

    The cleaning season runs from April to October and the Fourth of July and the Head of the Charles are the busiest times, attendees at both events end up putting a lot of trash in the water.

    According to McNichol. the latter event changes the character of the trash.

    Most of the year, Dunkin' Donuts coffee cups are found in the water; after the Head of the Charles, this changes to Starbucks.

    "I don't know that people are aware of the amount of activity on the water," Canterbury said, as he netted a red bottle cap, adding later, "Irt bugs me when I hear people complain about how dirty the Charles is," he said.  "Well, whose fault is that?  It's like somehow it's the river's fault!"