MERCHANTS, VOLUNTEERS TO TIDY UP
CUMBERLAND AVENUE
The
Cumberland Avenue Merchants Association (CAMA), Keep Knoxville Beautiful and
the City of Knoxville will host a Cumberland Avenue Cleanup event from 9-11
a.m. on Tuesday, May 22.
CAMA
merchants – enthusiastic about the greener new Cumberland Avenue – have pledged
to take a more active role in routinely picking up toss-down litter near their
businesses.
Flyaway
pieces of litter are annoying, but they can accumulate in pockets of debris,
out of sight, that grow into serious problems. The accumulations happen
everywhere, and they can spiral out of control.
Way,
way downstream, scientists have documented islands of floating trash in the
oceans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFzYnLI9xxw) that
are the size of U.S. states, but it’s not widely understood that litter from
places as far inland as Knoxville, Tennessee, can contribute to the growth of
these islands.
Trash thrown down on the ground or blown out of an uncovered container is washed into storm drains and local creeks. It then can make its way into the Tennessee River, on to the Mississippi River, and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico.
That’s why, as part of the $25 million investment in public infrastructure
along the Cumberland Avenue Corridor project, City stormwater engineers
installed a new stormwater catch system for Third Creek.
A
4-foot pipe running beneath Cumberland Avenue collects much of the runoff from
both the Fort Sanders neighborhood and Cumberland Avenue area and drains toward
Third Creek near the greenway. Before it drains into Third Creek, a lot of the
water goes through a treatment unit, which removes large quantities of litter and
pollutants from the stormwater. Unfortunately, some trash inevitably makes its
way to the creek.
Along Cumberland alone, crews collect more than 4,000 pounds of garbage and
recyclables each week that people responsibly place in receptacles.
“CAMA wanted to launch this cleanup as the next step toward making sure
Cumberland looks its best,” said Joe Burger, owner of the Cumberland Avenue
McDonald’s and CAMA President.
“We
want to make a statement that we care about our area, and that we’re going to
take action and take ownership of our commercial corridor.”
Keep Knoxville Beautiful is asking volunteers to register for the May 22 cleanup so it can plan how many bags, gloves and other supplies to provide. To register, visit https://bit.ly/2wpvg53.
Volunteers
for the cleanup event will meet at the Copper Cellar, 1807 Cumberland Ave. Parking will be available in the
Copper Cellar upper lot, closest to White Avenue. McDonald’s will be providing
free coffee and biscuits to volunteers, and its parking lot will be available
for additional parking, as needed.
If
you haven’t been to Cumberland Avenue recently, swing by and admire the more
than 90 large trees that have leafed out.
With
a conversion to LED lights and the new stormwater infrastructure, the new
Cumberland is more sustainably responsible than
ever. Runoff water reaching Third Creek is the cleanest in modern times.
“The new Cumberland Avenue water quality treatment unit does a
great job at helping prevent trash and debris from washing into Third Creek,
but the device has limitations and can’t get it all,” said Chris Howley, the
City of Knoxville’s Stormwater Engineering Chief.
“It really takes community effort in using the trash cans and
cleaning up trash on the sidewalk, so that it won’t wash down the drain and end
up in the creek and river.”
CUMBERLAND AVENUE MERCHANTS WELCOME DESTINATION IMAGINATION GLOBAL FINALISTS!
Get ready for 18,000 new faces to visit the Knoxville Convention Center, Cumberland Avenue and the surrounding areas for the Destination Imagination 2018 Global Finals!
CAMA would like to thank the team at Graphic Creations, for putting together this great Welcome Poster. Posters were distributed at the May CAMA meeting on May 2, but if you still need one contact Helen Morton at University Liquors.
The event officially starts on Wednesday May 23rd in the afternoon with the opening ceremony and concludes late on Saturday May 26th in the afternoon with the closing ceremony.
The University of Tennessee has provided the following map for information about parking and accessing resources around the event. Merchants can also pick up materials for visitors from Visit Knoxville.
As always, thanks for your interest in Cumberland Avenue - have a safe and fun-filled weekend. Hope to see you at the Cleanup on Tuesday morning!
