This past Friday, a handful of us went down to the bridge near 14th street where we met Ralph White for an afternoon of service. We set out from the parking lot with a roll of trash bags, two paint buckets, some rollers and brushes, and some trash collectors. I was immediately inspired by Ralph as he spent a few minutes talking with us and two local boaters who were just getting in from kayaking on the James. He also gave us a fair warning that in order to perform the tasks that we were about to complete, we had to cross the active railroad line that goes over the James, which is technically trespassing, and that we could possibly get arrested… Although this comment was somewhat startling (we could get arrested for volunteering and picking up trash?) it didn’t phase us and we took our supplies and (slowly) crossed over the bridge and the railroad tracks to the island where we would be doing most of our work.
The group split in half, some of us went to clean up trash and glass near a homeless camp, and some went to the bottom of the bridge to cover up some graffiti. I myself went to help pick up the garbage that was scattered throughout the small island. The majority of what we had to clean up were glass beer and whisky bottles, and A LOT of them. We maybe filled 5 or so large garbage bags with primarily beer bottles, and had to constantly bring them back over the bridge to the trashcans that we help put signs on the last time we met with Ralph to learn about the heron rookery. Although this may not have been the ideal volunteering opportunity, speaking in terms of general grossness and cleanliness, we all easily saw that after a mere two hours of work, the amount of trash we moved off of the island was pretty significant, and that we had made a great impact on the surrounding area.
It was also great to see Ralph “at work.” I know in class we talked about whether or not Ralph White is considered a good environmental leader, and even though we all agreed that he was, it was a great experience to work beside him, as he was picking up trash and directing us almost the entire time as well. You can really tell how much each and every inch of the area around the James means to Ralph, and it’s evident how much he truly cares about the health of the River and the land around it when you see him working tirelessly and speaking so passionately about it. Something that resonated with me that Ralph and even the two boaters we met early in the afternoon kept mentioning was the idea that the River has the power to bring people of all ages, races, gender, and social class together, simply for the enjoyment of the water, and that by keeping the river healthy and accessible to everyone, it can continue this tradition and only bring more enjoyment for the future.