Volunteers working to keep Aldridge Creen Greenway clean

Published on July 28, 2024

Aldridge Creek is a jewel among Huntsville’s greenways. But the story Green Team volunteer Ben Denio shared serves as a reminder that even jewels need to be polished.

“I love the earth and I love taking care of the earth,” Denio said. “I’m on that greenway a lot and I would see trash that gets washed down from upstream or people littering or stuff like that. I just decided one day to do something about it and started up my own group.”

Denio, an Army veteran, started a group in 2022 to keep a segment of the 5½-mile south Huntsville greenway stream clean as part of Green Team’s Adopt-a-Stream volunteer program.

“Sometimes we’ll do cleanups once a month, sometimes it might be once every couple of months depending on what the trash situation in the greenway would be,” he said. “We’ve had a good response with volunteers to help out. Green Team provides all the trash bags and the tools we need for a cleanup.”

One seemingly small step can lead to big results.

“We’ve had a good response about people helping out,” Denio said. “Sometimes, all it takes is one person to take the lead and start a program and ask for help from others.”

That’s not to say there’s always an army of volunteers alongside Denio cleaning up Aldridge Creek. He said there have been occasions when there were only two other people helping and others when there have been groups of 20 people.

No matter the numbers, though, Denio’s passion for the environment is constant. And that includes being aware that the environment always needs that care. And that’s true for even a beautiful greenway like Aldridge Creek.

“Some people might realize the amount of garbage or debris that can accumulate because sometimes it’s more obvious than others,” Denio said. “There have been times when we’ve done cleanups and we’ve had 15 bags of trash pulled out. It kind of hides in the tall grass and the creek.”

If you would like to join Ben’s team and help keep Aldridge Creek, check out their Facebook page, Friends of the Greenway – Southeast Huntsville ,for more information.

Green Team is also always eager to talk to volunteers about joining a cleanup group or, like Denio, maybe you have a place close to your heart that you’d like to help keep clean. You can reach Green Team via phone at 256-532-5326 or by email . Green Team will provide all equipment needed for cleanups, including trash bags, safety vests, gloves and litter sticks.