Of the 180 miles of shoreline, less than 40 are within jurisdiction of the State Recreation Area
No state or local agency has the financial resources to address the trash problem on the remaining 140 miles bordering public land. Volunteerism must fill this void.
The Haw River Assembly has been conducting annual trash cleanups along the length of the Haw River for the last 29 years. Members of the Carolina Canoe Club also do cleanups at canoe access areas.
Despite these efforts, the inaccessibility of much of the shoreline of the Haw River Arm of Jordan Lake has greatly limited trash removal since the lake was formed 35 years ago. But thanks to the hard work of thousands of volunteers for Clean Jordan Lake, the trash legacy has disappeared on 30 miles of the most heavily impacted shoreline. Keeping up with incoming trash still keeps volunteers very busy. That’s why we continue to appeal for your help.
OUR SUCCESS
Clean Jordan Lake sponsors semi-annual cleanups open to the general public. These are held in March and October. In addition, many groups come to the lake for community service days. They include youth organizations such as YMCA Guides, Scouts of America, YMCA Summer Camp and Leaders, middle school Envirothon clubs; local high schools such as Green Hope, Enloe, Carrboro and Northwood; corporations such as Sensus, GSK, Duke Energy, Syngenta, Biogen Idec, Gilero, BB&T, NC Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Dell, Gen and Dude Solutions; university organizations such as UNC Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, UNC Dentistry, UNC Pharmacy, UNC ROTC Cadets, NCSU Swim Club and NCSU Veterinary School; and civic groups such as NC Geocachers, Sierra Club affiliates, and Rotary Clubs. We also have Adopt-a-Shoreline and Adopt-a-Feed-Stream Programs to keep designated areas clean throughout the year.
View our accomplishments each year by clicking here.
See a summary of our cleanup stats here. Nearly 10,000 volunteers have participated in over 750 cleanup events so far. They’ve removed over 20,000 bags of trash close to 5,000 tires. Our early success is vividly portrayed in NBC17 News coverage of the October 2010 cleanup event in conjunction with NC Big Sweep that attracted about 200 volunteers. Picking up trash is hard work but can also be a lot of fun as this video shows!
Click here, to relive Oscar the Grouch but with lots more trash to love at Jordan Lake.
We are moving toward public education on trash prevention. The Syngenta Community Grant Program funded several Environmental Awareness Pontoon Boat Tours for public officials in counties surrounding the lake and more are planned.
Clean Jordan Lake achieves its mission without paid staff. We are indebted to local and state agencies, organizations and private business for their support.
DONATED SERVICES AND SUPPLIES
We have a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that provides for boats to ferry volunteers and trash as well other logistical support. The Chatham County Solid Waste & Recycling Division provides roll-off dumpsters and waives the landfill tipping fee. The Bridgestone Americas Tires4ward Program has enabled free pickup and recycling of tires.
The NC Wildlife Resources Commission has cleared paths for volunteers to reach trash sites. The NC Dept. of Transportation, Highway Stormwater Program has donated thousands of bags. The Piedmont Section of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary has given on-water logistical support. Cross Winds Boating Center has provided pontoon boats and operators to ferry volunteers and trash.
As of January 2023, volunteer hours and goods and services that have been donated are worth topped $ 1 million dollars or about $80,000 per year.
