Today marks the first in a series of cleanup attempts at a local pond in Englewood, CO.

Back in September, I went here on a blind search for some local waters. Almost immediately it was obvious that while people do come here, and they clearly fish quite a bit; there’s clearly a problem with litter, irresponsible angling, and poor coverage for fish.

I grew up up in the Midwest, I only learned how to fish through neighbors and a few attempts from Grandpa. But all and all I stopped fishing probably 15 yrs ago. So in an effort to be more self reliant in the coming years, I bought a fishing license and all the gear (necessary or otherwise) to go out and catch some fish.

It wound up taking another month or so of throwing myself and any other setup I could afford, into the lake before I would land anything close to a real fish.

But the amount of trash from anglers alone, was too much to ignore. So after a few visits, I went to the hardware store, and planned out how i could help. After snagging a bucket, a grabber on sale, and free trash bags donated from the local walmart, the first attempt was made.

In the 2.5 hours that followed, I was able to take out 15 gallons of waste, not including a whole bike tire left floating on the shore. While i was impressed at the amount of litter at first, the lack of shoreline covered only highlighted the obvious. There was a lot more work that needs doing at Centennial Park.

Maybe I can do something about it.