Project Trashless Wild

I plan on starting a personal project soon and I'm naming it Trashless Wild.

The goal of Trashless Wild is to rid our wilderness areas, rivers, and streams of as much debris and trash as possible. I have chosen two pilot projects areas to begin this effort and they are Rock Creek in Sulphur and of course beloved Blue.

Upstream is downstream is a simple and workable theory. The cleaner water is upstream then the cleaner water will be downstream.

Rock Creek will be tackled first. She meanders her way along the boundaries of the local school system. Of course with school comes a lot of activities and the sports complex is along the banks of the creek. With all the sporting events that go on of course trash is going to accumulate and unfortunately it ends up on the creek's banks, trees and shrubs and in the water itself. From here, Rock Creek flows through the Chickasaw National Recreation Area on her way to Arbuckle Lake. Again... upstream is downstream.

Here are some pictures of what I will be trying to remedy. My ultimate goal is to make this project infectious and many more outdoor-minded people will join me. Hopefully the day will come we can form as an organization or society. Once that happens we can take Project Trashless Wild to other wild areas across Oklahoma and even beyond those borders.



I'll start the project at the bridge north of the school system and clean the creek until I hit the main bridge that divides east and west Sulphur. This is about three quarters of a mile of water.


There is a wide assortment of trash along the creek including clothes, discarded toys, aluminum cans, and plastic.

Many of the plastic bags have become lodged in the overhanging tree branches and shrubbery.

Unfortunately, the area of the creek behind the school system is the trashiest spot on the whole of Rock Creek.


More and more plastic in any color you want, black, white, yellow, and clear in the form of discarded water bottles.


Plastic, plastic, everywhere.


Lots of Styrofoam too in the form of drinking cups. I wonder if Styrofoam every completely degrades?


Hanging like ornaments in the trees... more plastic. It's quite unsightly and will eventually end up downstream.


There are some rather large chunks of Styrofoam also and I know they'll be there quite sometime.

Upstream is downstream. There's no doubt about it.