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Chad Pregracke: Cleaning up the U.S.'s vast pollution problem, one piece of garbage at a time
People are rallying all over the world to compel their governments to become environmentally responsible and to clean up the vast manmade pollutants.
This is the story is of a man already taking action.
(Story continues from "Read More")
Chad grew up in East Moline, IL near the U.S.'s legendary waterway, the Mississippi River.
The Mississippi is the drinking water for 18-million people yet Chad saw it polluted with everything imaginable:
Including old cars, old tires, refrigerators, stoves, millions of plastic bottles, and rotting drums of oil and other toxic chemicals.
Starting at age 17 in 1992, Chad began contacting government agencies to do something about it. But as the years passed, the problems only grew worse.
In 1997, at 22, Chad decided if no-one else was going to do anything, he would. With a small boat he began collecting and recycling all the garbage he could handle.
The following year, he formed Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) as volunteers joined in the cleanup.
Now, 21-years later LL&W has a staff and a fleet of equipment. Thousands of volunteers also now lend a hand, as they cleanup parts of the Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries.
They've removed over 10.5 million pounds of garbage and counting.
And the LL&W mission now includes Student Educational Workshops, The MillionTrees [planting] Project, Adopt-a-River Mile and Invasive Species Removal.
In Chad's words, "This is a problem that people created but a problem people can fix."
Editor's Note:
To learn more, click here. Chad was CNN Hero's, 2013 Hero of the Year. To see the award presentation and an update, click here. To visit the LL&W website, click here.
In the next KazanToday:
A couple's dramatic rescue of their beloved dog, lost for 57-days in the wild.
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