Growers and Grocers

Not familiar with the name? Neither was I. Chad Pregracke, from East Moline, Illinois, is known as a river clean-up crusader, which is a pretty self-explanatory title. Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi River, he was saddened by its condition, and decided to do something about it. Working tirelessly on his own, he tried without success to secure government funding. He was eventually able to find corporate sponsors that believed in him and his cause, and now they number 60. More than 10 years later, his non-profit’s home base still remains the 135-foot barge he started out on.

He recently released a new book, From the Bottom Up, where he recounts how his company, Living Lands and Waters, has grown from a one-man, one-boat operation to a non-profit with a whopping $750,000 budget.

He sat down for a quick chat with Midwest Living magazine recently. Here’s what you missed:

Did picking up the Mississippi one bottle or barrel at a time ever seem hopeless?
You gotta take it one piece at a time. I looked at our results after a boatload, and I’d have piles and piles of stuff. It was overwhelming, but I could see results.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve pulled from a river?
Near Saint Paul, I found money bags from a bank robbery. On the other side of the island was the surveillance tape from the bank, wrapped in so much duct tape it was waterproof.

How do you convince volunteers to pick up garbage?
It’s not that hard, really. I don’t think anybody likes seeing garbage in our rivers, streams or creeks. I’ve seen momentum. A lot of places you don’t go back to because it’s been kept clean.

What’s your next big idea?
I’m going to grow 1 million hardwood trees to give away. I can’t physically plant them all, but I can operate a nursery that can.