I’m a river kid, through and through. Growing up right where the Mississippi River and Interstate 80 meet, I spent just about every day of my childhood on the water — fishing, swimming, playing, and exploring nature along the shore.

As founder of Living Lands & Waters, an “industrial strength” river cleanup organization aimed at protecting, preserving and restoring our nation’s major rivers and watersheds, I still do. Only now, I fish for old tires, 55-gallon barrels, discarded appliances, sunken boats, and just about any other kind of trash you can think of.

Well, it’s not just me. Today, I’m supported by a dedicated team of 16, four barges, two towboats, workboats, an excavator, six work trucks, and a crane. And thousands of volunteers.

And partners like Ford.

Since the establishment of Living Lands & Waters as a 501 (c)(3) organization in 1998, we’ve removed 14,080,268 pounds of trash, planted 2,321,684 trees, educated 30,709 students, and have held over 2,471 community cleanups with 137,502 volunteers on 33 rivers in 23 states. (We’ve also amassed one of the world’s largest message-in-a-bottle collections!)

Here’s one of the most important things I’ve learned along the way: The more we can join together with other organizations that care, the bigger the difference we can make.

Partnering With Ford

Living Lands & Waters and Ford are teaming up to complete 17 watershed cleanup and restoration projects near Ford manufacturing plants throughout the country. With incredible support from Ford’s community relations director Gabby Bruno and Ford’s environmental team, we’ve completed seven engagements so far, including ones along the Ohio River in Louisville and Cincinnati, as well as along the Missouri, Detroit, Mississippi, and Calumet rivers.

What makes the work we are doing with Ford so powerful is that it’s not just a sponsorship — it’s a true partnership. The fact that Bill Ford came out and volunteered at our Detroit River cleanup event was one of the highlights of my entire career. It was great to see him engaging with the volunteers and community partners — not to mention rolling up his sleeves to help clean up the Detroit River. He really sets the tone for the entire company.

It’s been awesome to work side by side with so many Ford volunteers, and Gabby and the community relations team are also connecting us with local conservation groups, like TreesLouisville and Keep Tennessee Beautiful, who are bringing in additional people and resources to help. That’s honestly the key to success: building relationships in communities and working together, one project at a time.

Making the World a Better Place, Together

When I look back to my 17-year-old self, diving for mussel shells and struck by both the beauty of the Mississippi River and also the enormous amounts of trash in it, I’m gratified by what Living Lands & Waters has been able to accomplish with the help of our volunteers and supporters. I’m also more motivated than ever to keep going. In addition to Living Lands & Waters, I’ve co-founded a startup called Green Current Solutions with my wife, Tammy Becker, to transform the plastic waste we’re pulling from river cleanups into shipping pallets, which helps keep it out of landfills.

Nobody likes to see garbage in the water. But, at the end of the day, Living Lands & Waters is about more than just beautification. Millions of people get their drinking water from our rivers, lakes, and streams. The nation’s watersheds support entire ecosystems, including the trees and plants that grow nearby, as well as the fish we eat. There are so many important reasons to protect and care for these vital natural resources, and we’re honored that Ford is joining us in this effort.

We’ve done seven projects with Ford to date, collected over 20,000 pounds of trash, and we’re not stopping there. We have several more events with Ford volunteers in the planning stages for 2026. I always encourage new volunteers to come out for one of our river cleanups! I promise you’ll have a safe, rewarding, and, most of all, fun experience. You’ll meet some kick-ass people who truly care about making the world a better place. And you might even find a message in a bottle.

Chad Pregracke is the founder of Living Lands & Waters.