Summary of results
In 2005, with the help of thousands of volunteers at numerous events throughout Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, more than two million pounds of trash were removed from the rivers.

Rivers
Nine rivers with hydropower plants in two states were involved in the project: Alabama (Black Warrior, Coosa, and Tallapoosa),Georgia (Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Flint, Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Tallulah Rivers).

Projects & Energy
Southern Company Generation operates 34 hydropower plants within the states of Alabama and Georgia with 2,756 megawats(MW) of capacity.

Environmental Stewardship
Renew Our Rivers serves to do what the name implies; it has renewed the rivers by removing trash from the waterways of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi

Historical Information
The growth of Renew Our Rivers is phenomenal. It started in 1999 by Gene Phifer, Team Compliance Leader at Gadsden Steam Plant, as a river system cleanup initiative along the banks of the Coosa River in Gadsden, Alabama.

In 2000 it became Renew the Coosa. In 2003, Renew the Coosa became Renew Our Rivers because of the program's growth well beyond the Coosa system. In addition to the rivers with hydropower facilities that conducted cleanups, the following systems have also been added due to cleanups conducted by Southern Company fossil fuel plants: the Black Warrior, Coosa, and Mobile Rivers in Alabama; Chattahoochee, Coosa, Etowah, Flint, Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Turtle Rivers in Georgia; and Chunky, Okatoma, Pascagoula, Tuxachanee, and Wolf Rivers in Mississippi. In the past, individual operating companies have organized and participated in river and reservoir cleanups , but Renew Our Rivers became the first Southern Company-wide cleanup effort, coordinating, not only company employees, but numerous stakeholder groups. The program has continued to grow, spreading throughout the Southern Company service area. Since 2000, Renew Our Rivers has mobilized thousands of volunteers to remove more five million pounds of litter and man-made debris from the waterways.

Challenges
Because many river systems targeted for the program have never been selected for a major clean-up, the amount and type of trash seemed insurmountable.

Innovation
To approach this problem, Renew Our Rivers planners targeted specific areas of the waterways. Prior to deploying volunteers, reconnaissance missions were conducted. Company volunteers with barges and work boats were sent out prior to the public volunteers, to collect large items such as abandoned refrigerators, freezers, and tires. Also, planners made sure that the number of volunteers sent to an area was proportionate to the amount of litter in an area.

Collaboration/Cooperation
The Renew Our River's private-public partnership brings together a diverse group; employees (union and management), stakeholders (homeowner/boat owner associations, schools and civic associations), government agencies, NGO community all working toward a common goal, removing trash from the waterways.

Due to the widespread distribution of these cleanups, numerous city and county officials, civic and community leaders throughout the states were involved.

In addition to the private-public partnerships, the program coordinates employees across four states and five operating companies. Although the details of each cleanup vary, the employees work together to share best practices, to find opportunities for involvement, and to celebrate their achievement.

Accomplishments
Large items, such as refrigerators, freezers, hot water heaters, boats, and tires have been drastically reduced on the waterways. Smaller litter items are also showing a marked decline.

During a Renew Our Rivers fall 2004 planning session of Southern Company Generation facilities staff, a report was given on the total accumulated poundage since 2000. The group was told that 3.4 million pounds of litter and man-made debris had been removed since 2000. A goal was set to remove additional poundage to achieve a goal of five million pounds removed since 2000. The slogan "5 in 05" became the goal.

With more than two million pounds removed during 2005, that goal was met and surpassed. Southern Company Generation facilities met the challenge and spread Renew Our Rivers to cover a three state area, and to make Renew Our Rivers the largest river systems cleanup in the southeastern United States.

A less tangible accomplishment, but probably among the most important, was the community relations developed and grown from these events. Many times, community relations initiatives are left to designated groups. The Renew Our Rivers program allows other employees-those who work at the hydropower facilities, other generating plants, lake management offices, and environmental offices-the opportunity to get involved in community relations. This puts a personal face on a large corporation. While their daily jobs of generating electricity is a great value to the community, these cleanup events are a tangible way to demonstrate each employee's personal commitment to improving the environment. The generation facilities are now viewed as part of the local community

Future
As a tribute to the residents of the devastated areas from last year's hurricane season, a new slogan was proposed for utilization with Renew Our Rivers, "A New Beginning in 2006". It was also suggested that Renew Our Rivers become a vehicle to address the litter and debris that the forces of nature bestowed on the Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi coast. It has worked elsewhere with success. Why not here?

What Others Are Saying
"We don't often see the level of cooperation among states that has occurred as a result of Renew Our Rivers, which will surely serve as a successful model that can be applied to other issues that cross state lines. We often cite the Renew Our Rivers program as an outstanding and successful example for KAB's Affiliate network of nearly 1,000 Affiliates and Participating Organizations."- G. Raymond Empson, President of Keep America Beautiful, in a letter to Jerry Stewart, Executive Vice President, Southern Company Generation " We are grateful for Georgia Power's support not only over the last 12 months, but also since 2002 when Georgia Power became involved. Without this support Rivers Alive would be hard-pressed to exist in it's current state."---Mitch Russell, Coordinator for Georgia's River Alive program in a letter to Chuck Huling, Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Georgia Power