A record number of volunteers came together during the weekend to remove 1,171 tires and three large dumpsters full of trash from the Connoquenessing Creek.

One of those volunteers reported finding large plastic garbage bags filled with soiled diapers.

Another found a Porta Potty in the creek.

We do not understand why people continue to think our land and waterways are perfect places to discard their trash.

Really, people.

Water is vital for human existence and its pollution is one the main environmental issues that we are facing on Earth, as more than 70% of the Earth’s surface is water-covered.

In addition to personal use, we rely on water as a source of recreation.

Humans are the major cause of water pollution.

More than 22 billion plastic water bottles are thrown away yearly, meaning only about one in every six water bottles purchased in the United States ends up being recycled.

Many of those bottles find their way into our waterways.

As Americans, we use more than 100 billion plastic bags each year. Over three times more bags end up as litter in our forests and waterways than are recycled annually.

Plastic bags take almost as long to degrade as plastic bottles, leach chemicals into the environment, and inhibit natural water flows for decades.

Despite all the laws and administrative frameworks in place, pollution continually plagues us.

It’s time we stop treating our environment as our personal trash can.

Beth Speicher, of Portersville, grew up on the Connoquenessing Creek, which spurred her to earn a degree in environmental resource management from Penn State University.

Speicher was happy to attend her first cleanup Saturday due to her memories of playing in the creek, which had been so neglected and abused it was ranked as the second most-polluted waterway in America 20 years ago.

Speicher perhaps best summed up the thoughts of everyone who participated in Saturday’s cleanup:

“I wish people would quit throwing trash into the creek, so we wouldn’t need to do this.”

— JGG