Category Archives: 2020 Trailblazers

Hello, it is Karim, Nick, Tiger, and Dylan one last time and even though we were not able to do a lot of the service part at all, we had fun working as a group while we could. The only thing we were able to do was to make signs but were never able to put them up as we wanted. We did lots of research on the types of pollution and waste that are effecting the river and a trail on a daily basis. We just wanted to thank everyone as well as the organization that offered the opportunity to make the community a better place as well as all of our classmates that made this semester fun while it lasted!

In 2015, the Schuylkill River Trail was voted best urban trail within the US because of the volunteers that come in and adopt the trail and help maintain it for the community. However, there is a lot of evidence of human waste that includes, water bottles, paper waste, and other human accessories. Things like bottles can take decades to degrade back into the Earth and can cause lots of harm to wildlife and even humans if these waste seeps into the water supply of thousands of people within the community. It is our responsibility to take action and keep places like this trail safe and open for public entertainment and safety.

When it comes to researching things about the trail and the river, we looked heavily on the website Schuylkill River Greenways because it provided us with things like river health and the main things that are causing harm to the river. These things include agriculture runoff, stormwater runoff, and even abandoned mine drainage.

First of all, stormwater hits impermeable surfaces like roads, parking lots, and sidewalks which let pollution roll with the water and eventually finds its way into the river that supports our community as well as another 75 miles of river and trail.

Next, the agricultural runoff comes from things like farms and irrigation which allows things like pesticides and other chemicals to leak into the water and harm wildlife and even humans.

Lastly, when it comes to mine drainage, things like coal and other products of mining often leak into the water resource and can cause lots of harm to wildlife and the people around us.