Boston's Charles River Clean Up Boat

I had the opportunity to visit Boston recently. Having bragged on the Charles River "Clean Up Boat" for years of its ability to keep part of the Charles River free of trash, it was important to do a little investigation on my own.

The Charles River is a pretty busy waterway on weekends with Duck Tour boats, pedal boats, crew boats, Sailboats, canoes and plenty of kayakers. Charles River draws in a lot of recreational water users including a large amount of tourism.

Pedal boats ready for rental. You won't see pedal boats for rent in Mobile...

To investigate the Charles River waterway trash, I rode a 30 mile bike ride loop around the Charles River from Waltham to the Charlestown Navy Yard. Was the Charles River free of trash? No.

I did observe some plastic bags in the water. What I did NOT see was any plastic bottles and styrofoam cups. Obviously the Charles River Clean Up Boat is directly responsible for the Charles River being mostly free of plastic bottles and styrofoam cups.

I even saw the Charles River Clean Up Boat motoring around.

On that 30 mile bicycle ride around the Charles River I never saw a single plastic bottle or Styrofoam cup in or along the water. There were however a few plastic bottles in Boston Harbor which is an area not kept clean by the Clean Up Boat.

With so many people using the Charles River, I was flabergasted not to have seen lots of trash along the River.

Obviously one little skiff working 4 days a week is able to keep a large 8 mile portion of the Charles River in one of the densest metropolitan areas of the country clean of most discardable drink containers. Not much Uglyness in the Charles River.

Big Kudos to Tom McNichols and his Non-Profit Clean Up Boat!