Teens scoring environmental points
High school soccer player leads group of volunteers cleaning local creeks
West and Rhode Riverkeeper Jeff Holland has been trying to coordinate volunteer community creek cleanups for about three years, he said.
This year, he found a 16-year-old from Mayo who had already assembled a team: the Clean Creeks Football Club.
The club was founded by Rob Rutkai, a rising junior at South River High School who plays on the school’s varsity soccer team.
Clean Creeks Football Club is composed mainly of Rutkai’s friends and fellow soccer players. Since their first cleanup this past April, the group has gathered more than 3,600 pounds of trash from Cadle and White Marsh creeks, as well as from the Turkey Point area.
“I was just inspired that these young kids would take it on themselves to do something I’ve been trying to get adult volunteers to do for at least three years," Holland said.
Removing trash from the water not only gets rid of an eyesore, it removes pollutants and improves habitat, Holland said.
Rutkai said he got the idea for the club this past February, and overall they’ve completed eight cleanup projects.
On Aug. 20 they had record attendance and collected a record amount of trash —15 people came out and collected 880 pounds of trash. The volunteers also pulled part of a washing machine out of the water.
The cleanups take place on the water, with club members approaching shorelines by kayak or paddle board to collect trash.
They’ve found a wheelbarrow, car batteries, a steering wheel and pipes, but for the most part they pick up bottles, cans and broken glass, Rutkai said.
With members who are used to playing soccer, things do get competitive among the teenagers. When Rutkai announced the start of Sunday’s cleanup, the boys began paddling to the cleanup area at a rapid clip.
The club splits into teams, and at the end of an allotted time the team with the most trash “wins,” receiving a hat or a shirt. Rutkai said he loves spending time on the water. The trash he sees near his home is an eyesore, he said, and he can imagine its effect on wildlife. By using the kayaks and paddleboards, members of the team can access otherwise inaccessible parts of the water to clean up the waterways.
Rutkai said the club will be back cleaning up the creeks next year. It’s something he would like to see expand.
“Hopefully with the younger guys it will just keep going forever, and branch out to other schools,” Rutkai said.
Alex Parmele, 16, a South River student who also lives in Mayo, is a member of the club and said the allure includes “hanging out with friends, and actually putting our work to some use, which is cleaning up and making a difference. All of us definitely enjoy it.”
“People just throw stuff in it, and it’s not going to get out unless someone pulls it out,” he said. “We're thinking, ‘Why not us?’”
Holland said he plans to designate members of the Clean Creek team honorary riverkeepers.
“To my mind, seeing young people deciding on their own that they’re going to do something to make a difference should be inspiring to everybody,” he said.
For more information on the club, visit cleancreeksfc.com. rpacella@capgaznews.com
This year, he found a 16-year-old from Mayo who had already assembled a team: the Clean Creeks Football Club.
The club was founded by Rob Rutkai, a rising junior at South River High School who plays on the school’s varsity soccer team.
Clean Creeks Football Club is composed mainly of Rutkai’s friends and fellow soccer players. Since their first cleanup this past April, the group has gathered more than 3,600 pounds of trash from Cadle and White Marsh creeks, as well as from the Turkey Point area.
“I was just inspired that these young kids would take it on themselves to do something I’ve been trying to get adult volunteers to do for at least three years," Holland said.
Removing trash from the water not only gets rid of an eyesore, it removes pollutants and improves habitat, Holland said.
Rutkai said he got the idea for the club this past February, and overall they’ve completed eight cleanup projects.
On Aug. 20 they had record attendance and collected a record amount of trash —15 people came out and collected 880 pounds of trash. The volunteers also pulled part of a washing machine out of the water.
The cleanups take place on the water, with club members approaching shorelines by kayak or paddle board to collect trash.
They’ve found a wheelbarrow, car batteries, a steering wheel and pipes, but for the most part they pick up bottles, cans and broken glass, Rutkai said.
With members who are used to playing soccer, things do get competitive among the teenagers. When Rutkai announced the start of Sunday’s cleanup, the boys began paddling to the cleanup area at a rapid clip.
The club splits into teams, and at the end of an allotted time the team with the most trash “wins,” receiving a hat or a shirt. Rutkai said he loves spending time on the water. The trash he sees near his home is an eyesore, he said, and he can imagine its effect on wildlife. By using the kayaks and paddleboards, members of the team can access otherwise inaccessible parts of the water to clean up the waterways.
Rutkai said the club will be back cleaning up the creeks next year. It’s something he would like to see expand.
“Hopefully with the younger guys it will just keep going forever, and branch out to other schools,” Rutkai said.
Alex Parmele, 16, a South River student who also lives in Mayo, is a member of the club and said the allure includes “hanging out with friends, and actually putting our work to some use, which is cleaning up and making a difference. All of us definitely enjoy it.”
“People just throw stuff in it, and it’s not going to get out unless someone pulls it out,” he said. “We're thinking, ‘Why not us?’”
Holland said he plans to designate members of the Clean Creek team honorary riverkeepers.
“To my mind, seeing young people deciding on their own that they’re going to do something to make a difference should be inspiring to everybody,” he said.
For more information on the club, visit cleancreeksfc.com. rpacella@capgaznews.com
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