Osprey Initiative has celebrated a major milestone: removing 100,000 pounds of floating litter from waters.
Osprey Initiative, an environmental contractor based in Mobile, Alabama, is owned by Tangipahoa Parish native Don Bates.
The company’s team began collecting data in 2017 and now works with partners in nine states to install, maintain and collect data from its patented litter collection devices.
The company owns types of three litter collection devices that intercept floating litter from stormwater runoff: the Litter Gitter, Litter Interceptor and Litter Boom.
Tangipahoa Parish has three Litter Gitters installed – one each in Ponchatoula Creek, Yellowwater River and Selsers Creek. In its first year, Litter Gitter devices collected over 2,000 pounds of litter from Tangipahoa Parish waterways.
“We are very fortunate that our partners and sponsors have funded our work to achieve this goal,” said Don Bates, owner and president of Osprey Initiative. “This is predominantly floatable litter that is very visible and directly impacts our waterways.”
There are currently 42 Litter Gitter sites across eight states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina.
The Osprey team approach also includes tactical cleanups in areas they identify as “litter hotspots,” with the team even giving back some of their time to improve the communities in which they have sites.
“A critical part of our mission is to always make sure we are adding value to the areas that we work,” Bates said.
“With our Give Five program and the basic expectation of our employees to be ambassadors and educators about the work we do, our team is conducting a critical role in improving and enhancing our waterways.”
Osprey Initiative’s efforts are also supported by selling items from their product line, including sustainable bags, recycled glass jewelry, and more. Five percent of all revenues help fund future litter cleanup efforts.
More about the Osprey mission, team and litter collection devices is available at www.osprey.world.
This story originally appeared in The Daily Star. Read the original story here.
