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Reedy Creek Cleanup
» College of Humanities and Sciences
VCU students in a 2001 world regions geography class began a tradition of climbing down into murky water and scrambling over rugged ravines to pick up trash along Reedy Creek as part of a service-learning project. 
The cleanups take place on weekends throughout the fall and, more recently, the spring. Approximately 10 to 15 students spend their Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons caring for this stream whose watershed is completely encompassed within the boundaries of the city of Richmond.
By 2006, students in the course realized that a stronger focus on education might help prevent the ubiquitous presence of trash and restore the stream to its former ecological health and natural beauty. To that end, participation in the Reedy Creek Environmental Festival became an added part of the service-learning work. Students organize the festival, give tours of the Reedy Creek wetlands and teach valuable environmental lessons to the students at Miles J. Jones School, which lies only yards from Reedy Creek’s wetlands.
The work continues today as VCU students meet to pull trash from the stream channel outdoors and to take environmental teaching indoors to the school children who are beginning to appreciate and care for Reedy Creek.
Get involved
To support this program or get involved as a volunteer, contact Helen Ruth Aspaas at hraspaas@vcu.edu.