30th Annual Big Sweep

The 30th Annual Big Sweep in western North Carolina may be our largest river cleanup to date!

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For the event, Asheville Greenworks coordinated Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania county teams to paddle and cleanup rivers, including: the French Broad River, Green River, Mills River, Broad River, Watauga River, Mud Creek, Cane Creek, and many more waterways (and counties!).


On September 9, Mills River Partnership's team paddled Mills River, from the bridge on Highway 280 (at Valley AG Farm & Garden store) to Westfeldt Park (along the French Broad River). Our team of volunteers included: a few local residents, Sierra Nevada Brewery employees, and Asheville Greenworks volunteers. From the Mills alone, our team pulled at least: 4 tires, 8 bags of trash, large steel pipes and rods, miscellaneous plastic and styrofoam, and even a chainsaw!!

The official statistics from the event are still being calculated; however, at least 100 volunteers came together that day and removed 45 tires and several tons of garbage from over 25 miles of waterways in western North Carolina.

(This is amazing, and the numbers keep climbing!)

Special thanks to all the partners that made this event such a success: Asheville Greenworks, MountainTrue, RiverLink, Green Riverkeeper, French Broad Riverkeeper, Mills River Partnership, AmeriCorps Project Conserve, Asheville Outdoor Center, Griffin Waste Services, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Henderson County, French Broad Outfitters, and many more!