TVA and partners collaborate on cleanups and green-ups that strengthen the region’s resources.
Throughout winter and spring, TVA and its partners support cleanups, river restorations and native tree plantings across the Valley region.
These valuable partnerships enhance our ability to protect the planet – keeping electricity flowing and our natural resources thriving.
Cleanups and green-ups are all part of TVA’s tri-part mission of environmental stewardship, economic development and energy production – and they’re ways that TVA gives back to the larger community.
In a series of cleanups from January to May, TVA partner Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful worked with volunteers to dismantle storm-ravaged docks, remove debris and haul out hundreds of tires.
Each event found a crowd of volunteers, led by founder Kathleen Gibi, donning rubber boots and life jackets before boarding boats.
At one volunteer event, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful worked with TVA and Tennessee Department of Transportation staff to clean coves prior to Earth Day.
“It’s amazing to work with so many organizations and people,” Gibi said. “The Tennessee River system is the most biodiverse and it generates $12 billion in economic impact every year. (Through cleanups,) we’re boosting the economy and we’re securing jobs on top of protecting our drinking source and crucial ecosystems. It’s security for our whole region.”
Also critical to clean water – and cool air – are trees. On Tennessee Tree Day, TVA teamed up with the Tennessee Environmental Council and other partners to help residents across the state access bare-root seedlings.
Community members are encouraged to plant trees in their yards to add shade, reduce utility bills and attract birds and pollinators.
Sites across the state offered over a dozen native tree species, including evergreens such as white pines, wildlife attractors such as oaks and spring bloomers such as dogwood.
TVA also partners with communities to plant native trees at parks, bus stops and other public areas.
Melissa Hinten, executive director of Trees Knoxville, explained that an urban tree canopy is about more than comfort. “It’s a public health and quality of life issue,” she said.
This work helps cool cities, reduce energy consumption and ensure shared areas are more livable for all.
Alongside cleaning and greening the landscape, TVA also partners with organizations to rebuild eroding riverbanks.
This work protects private property – farmers’ fields and private and public docks – and helps clean the water that flows through TVA’s power-generating plants.
In Chattanooga, TVA partner WaterWays, led by Mary Beth Sutton, brought community volunteers to plant trees along riparian areas at river edges where roots hold soil and help filter contaminants from runoff.
In hurricane-impacted Greene County, TVA partner Green Interchange helped restore lands where rushing waters had ripped away vegetation that held people’s property in place.
TVA also helps make the annual Ijams River Rescue possible by providing bags, supplies and support. This Ijams Nature Center event has been going strong for 37 years with long-standing support from TVA.
This year, about 600 volunteers spanned 40 cleanup sites in Knox, Blount, Anderson and Sevier counties.
Volunteers scoured the shores of downtown Knoxville under supervision of year-round Ijams river Capt. Jerry Weaver.
Led by Tennessee RiverLine site captains, University of Tennessee students hopped in kayaks to clean creeks where wildlife swim and people paddle.
