As Earth Day nears, it is important to recognize efforts to keep our planet healthier, safer and viable for the future. One organization, Living Lands and Waters, founded by Chad Pregracke, is a remarkable example of what happens when we come together to make our communities a better place to live.

Pregracke grew up in East Moline on the banks of the Mississippi River, witnessing firsthand the amount of trash and debris collected along the banks of the river from human activity. At 17, he decided to begin single-handedly removing the garbage. A few years later, in 1998, he founded Living Lands and Waters.

Since the founding of the organization, Pregracke, his crew and volunteers have conducted over 1,400 community cleanups on 25 rivers in 23 states, removed a remarkable 13.5 million pounds of garbage and planted over 2.1 million trees in their efforts to reclaim waterfronts.

In 2011, Pregracke received a standing ovation from four former U.S. presidents at the Kennedy Center while accepting the Points of Light Award, recognizing his dedication to making our rivers cleaner and safer.

In addition to his organization, Pregracke’s factory, located in East Moline, converts some of the retrieved plastics into reusable plastic pellets in an effort to keep them from being discarded by other recyclers.

Pregracke once stated, “People talk about going to change the world. To me that sounds overwhelming – ‘the world’. It’s not about the world. It’s about your world.”

To learn more about Living Lands and Waters, check out their website here.