Facts about Renew Our Rivers

Renew Our Rivers, formerly known as Renew the Coosa, began in 2000 after employees from Alabama Power's Plant Gadsden became concerned about litter in and along the banks of the Coosa River. Renew Our Rivers is now one of the Southeast's largest organized river-system cleanups of its kind.

Renew Our Rivers has grown to include annual cleanups on the Chattahoochee, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Mobile, Alabama and Black Warrior rivers in Alabama.

Since its inception, more than 10 million pounds of trash and debris has been removed from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and northwest Florida waterways with the assistance tens of thousands of volunteers who have participated in the volunteer-led cleanups.

Education/Message in a Bottle
At the 50th National Keep America Beautiful Conference in 2003, Renew Our Rivers received an award, along with other volunteers, for the litter-prevention educational initiative "Message in the Bottle." The inspiration for the initiative came from a bottle found after 19 years floating in the river along Neely Henry Reservoir. The initiative includes an annual symposium and art contest for students in the Gadsden area, focusing on litter prevention.

In 2009, Renew Our Rivers received first place in education on litter prevention for the program's continued work with the Message in the Bottle educational initiative. The award was shared between Alabama Power, Mississippi Power, Keep Etowah Beautiful and Keep Mississippi Beautiful. The coloring book depicts how trash is directly and indirectly introduced into the river and then removed by volunteers to be recycled. More than 36,000 books have been distributed to students in Alabama.

Making a Name…..Awards and Recognition

• In 2009, Alabama Power, Mississippi Power, Keep Etowah Beautiful and Keep Mississippi Beautiful received first place in education in litter prevention from Keep America Beautiful.
• In 2008, Mississippi Power received the Keep America Beautiful Award for litter prevention.
• In 2007, Mississippi Power received the Keep America Beautiful Award for beautification.
• In 2007, Renew Our Rivers program won the Outstanding Stewardship of America's Waters award from the National Hydropower Association.
• In 2006, Alabama Power along with other Southern Company operating companies, were awarded first place in litter prevention from Keep America Beautiful.
• In 2006, the Renew Our Rivers program won the Outstanding Stewardship of America's Rivers award from the National Hydropower Association (NHA). Renew Our Rivers was recognized by NHA because of the project's innovation, collaborative partnerships, accomplishments and environmental stewardship efforts. Highlights and notable accomplishments of Renew Our Rivers are listed in The Outstanding Stewardship of America's Rivers report at www.outstandingrivers.org.
• In 2004, at the annual Keep America Beautiful national conference, Alabama Power employee Gene Phifer was presented the Volunteer Leadership Award for his role in launching Renew Our Rivers.
• In 2003, Alabama Power received the Water Conservationist of the Year Award from the Alabama Wildlife Federation.
• In 2003, Georgia Power received an award from Keep America Beautiful for a cleanup at Plant Hammond.
• In 2002, Alabama Power received Keep America Beautiful's highest national award for litter prevention for its role in the Renew Our Rivers/Renew the Coosa campaign.

Media Coverage
In 2003, WBRC FOX6 television station, in Birmingham, partnered with Renew Our Rivers to promote the river cleanups. With their assistance and the support of local radio, newspapers and television stations around the state, Renew Our Rivers has had unprecedented community awareness and support.

Alabama Power Foundation
The Alabama Power Foundation continues to participate in the cleanups by awarding $1,000 educational grants to volunteer lake associations to educate students about the environment. The grants are awarded to the lake and home owner associations annually.

Environmental Stewardship - Alabama Power
Alabama Power owns and operates 14 hydroelectric plants in Alabama, providing clean, low-cost electricity. The facilities provide more than 150,000 acres of water and 4,000 miles of shoreline for the public's enjoyment. For more information about Alabama Power's environmental commitment, visit Planet Power. For more information about the Alabama Power Foundation, visit www.alabamapowerfoundation.com.

Note: Smith Lake tonnage is the result of large blocks of styrofoam collected
*Two cleanups each year.
**Cooperative cleanup during same time-frame.