Local Lake Cleanup Day*ADVICE*

[mikswi]

I hope somebody can help me out here. I am looking to put together a cleanup day for a local lake alter this summer around late July-August.

Lately it seems that there have been some complaints about divers and how they disrupt fishing and "limit use of lakes because of all the flags". I worry that this year may bring things to a head where divers possibly get banned from some lakes. I live a minimum of 1-1/2 hours from the ocean so this effects allot of divers in the area.

I want to put together a Lake Cleanup Day for a commonly used lake. I have whatever support I need from my LDS and a local trash Company will donate a small container for the effort and I'm willing to help out with any unexpected cost's but, I just dont know how to go about organizing something like this. Can anybody offer some advice that has done this before or attended a Cleanup Day?

I want to get the local paper involved as well so that the GOOD we are doing is made known.

How far ahead should I plan?

What are the insurance considerations?

Who do I speak with at the Town Hall to make sure they are OK with it?

Should I have the local EMT on standby? Im sure they would like to be there on standby anyways.

What type of support do I need on the shore for this event?

Just how liable am I or the LDS/Trash Company for partially sponsoring this if somebody gets hurt?

Would I be losing the focus if I got the local Girl/Boy Scout chapter involved to help with the shore cleanup and putting up posters in advance?

I dont want this to end up being a logistical nightmare because we are trying to clean up garbage from a lake, show the public the positive side of SCUBA as well as make a point here about Divers. The point being that the DIVERS cleaned up all the trash that the BOATERS and fisherman chucked over the side. It would be a banner day for me if we recovered a marine battery or a discarded outboard motor, in addition to the guarranteed pile of fishing line, lures and soda/beer cans.


Any and all help/thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Again
I can be PM'd as well if you dont want to post here

 

[Seadiver5]

I have set up several lake cleanups for our dive club "moss bay divers" here in the Seattle area.

One of the problems you may encounter with the fishermen is that much of the "trash" you want to haul out actually had become "habitat" for the fish. While divers never like to see empty beer bottles laying around they are usually habitated by small fish and Crawdads etc.

My usual routine was to organize the event and promote it with the help of PADI's Project Aware, They will supply you with a banner and participation certificates. I also promoted it through many of the local dive shops, I sent out press releases 2 weeks in advance and the day before the event to all the local radio and television stations. I promoted it on the Earth Day Website etc.

The City always gave us a free permit for the use of the park, We usually invited the Police and the Fire Department to show up, We had a breakfast for all the volunteers and Pizza afterwards. The local refuse company supplied us with a free dumpster and on and on.

If you choose to invite the media I would suggest you tell them to show up an hour or so after the diving commences. That way there will be a good pile of trash for them to see. I have had them show up right at the start of the event only to be dissapointed with the results and go away before we actually brought stuff up.

In the past we have been interviewed and promoted nationally on NPR, all our local tv stations, and several of the local radio stations. If you tell the TV stations you can supply underwater footage of the cleanup they will love you for it.

Anyway I hope this helps.