All About Plastic Pollution
November 2 @ 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
The Youghiogheny Riverkeeper, Eric Harder, and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, Captain Evan Clark, will give a presentation on plastic pollution and our “Nurdle Patrol” program in our watershed and region. Join us to learn about our work, and how you can help out!
About the presenters:
Captain Evan has spent more than 20 years focused on learning from, living with, working upon and playing around rivers. He’s traveled the length of the Mississippi river and many of its tributaries, the Allegheny, Ohio, Monongahela, Missouri, Tennessee, Cumberland, Atchafalaya and other waters on boats he built himself. He settled in Pittsburgh in 2005 and has worked with various river based nonprofits, including Allegheny Cleanways on the Tireless project where he’s led thousands of volunteers cleaning more than 180 miles of riverbanks in Allegheny County. Together they’ve collected more than a million pounds of mostly plastic based garbage, tires, and human made debris.
You can also find Captain Evan along our rivers as a part time captain on the hybrid electric vessel Explorer, Rivers of Steel’s riparian biology educational and tour boat. He also lives on and swims in the Allegheny from his houseboat. In his limited spare time, Evan enjoys building and fixing boats with friends and traveling on distant waters.
Eric Harder grew up in central Kansas, but eventually made his way to the rivers of the east as a raft guide. Becoming a whitewater rafting guide was a turning point in his life. He eventually settled in Ohiopyle, and the Youghiogheny River became his home stream. In 2017, Eric became the Youghiogheny Riverkeeper to protect the Laurel Highlands. He conducts water sampling to track the source of pollution, monitors permitted discharge points, speaks for the river and the communities that depend on it, and picks up lots of tires from the river. When he’s not working, Eric kayaks, coaches his kids’ soccer team, and works on his house (which he built!)
Where: McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center
When: 12 pm – 1:30 pm