UNC and Elon Students Spring Into Action

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Alpha Phi Omega is a nation-wide service fraternity.  Students from the UNC chapter sprung into action to remove trash on April 5.  They cleaned a section of shoreline that faces the entrance of the Haw River Arm to the main body of the lake.

On April 6th, a group from the Sierra Club at Elon University also did their part in a 'spring clean' at the lake.  They removed trash from the east shoreline near the dam.

Elon Sierra Club (1)

Both groups found the usual assortment of basketballs, soccer balls, softballs, motor oil containers, cigarette lighters, styrofoam chunks and children's playhouse furniture along with four tires.

Both of these sections of shoreline have been cleaned many times in the past few years by our volunteers. However, the heavy rainfalls in late December and again in March, accompanied by water level rises of 4 to 8 ft, have brought more trash from the Haw River watershed.

Clean Jordan Lake's mission of trash removal is 'Sisyphean' in nature.  This association comes from the Greek myth about King Sisyphus.  He was deceitful and crafty, thinking himself more clever than Zeus.  As punishment,  Zeus made him roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, enchanting it to roll back down, forcing him to begin again.  Sisyphus was condemned to an eternity of useless efforts and unending frustration.

We at Clean Jordan Lake would like to disassociate ourselves from the unfortunate label of a Sisyphean mission!  To do so, we are moving to a new phase of our mission which is to PREVENT recurrence of trash.  That means educating citizens in the 8 counties of the watershed about the damage to the shoreline and the water caused by trash that gets flushed off the land by rainfalls.  We will also approach elected officials and staff at the county level with our message.  Our hope is to encourage stricter enforcement of anti-litter and illegal disposal laws and expansion of recycling opportunities.