River Cleanup Barge - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

La Crosse, Wisconsin (WXOW) - Some of you may have noticed some unusual decor at Riverside Park Monday, in the form of a barge full of trash. This barge is docked at the park and is a floating classroom for Living "Lands and Waters." That's a non-profit organization that helps with river cleanup. Living Lands and Waters started with one man in 1998 and it's evolved into an industrial strength river cleanup operation.

Monday, local teachers visited the barge to soak up and then pass on a river education curriculum which covers the economic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river.

Crew member Mike Coyne-Logan said, "18 million people get their daily drinking water from the Mississippi River. When you talk about drinkable water on this planet, one percent of the Earth's water is drinkable, you know, and its not going to last forever. The population is getting bigger. So we need to not take it for granted and think about conserving and protecting the water we have."

Among the oddities the crews have found floating the Mississippi, Mike says they believe they have the world's largest message in a bottle collection, with around 60 bottles.