
By Petra Baldwin
Water Quality Coordinator, Anacostia Riverkeeper
Have you set personal goals for yourself in 2025? We have another: invest in your local watershed.
There are many complex issues on a national and global scale that seem impossible to solve, but we can all do something by starting right in our own backyard.
At Anacostia Riverkeeper, we work to protect the Anacostia River – your river – for all who live, work, and play in the watershed. As we reflect on the past year, we are inspired by the progress we have made together and energized for the work ahead. Specifically, in 2025, we’re setting our sights on one of our biggest, and most tangible, problems in the Anacostia River – plastic pollution.
The Problem with Plastics
Plastics pollute our waterways and pose a threat to wildlife and human health. They break up into small pieces and are ingested by marine life, injuring and killing fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. As they break down into microplastics, scientists estimate that we are ingesting up to a credit card’s worth of plastic weekly!
What is the biggest source of plastic in the Anacostia River? Plastic bottles.
In 2024, Anacostia Riverkeeper removed 31,100 plastic bottles from the river – almost enough bottles to fill an entire school bus- and over the past decade, 60% of the trash Anacostia Riverkeeper captured has been plastic bottles.
It is time to end single-use plastic pollution. And you can help.
Achieving a #PlasticFree Anacostia
Let’s all consciously not use plastics in our everyday life. Let’s advocate for a plastic bottle bill which reduces single-use plastics from our environment. By implementing policies that reduce single-use plastic, we are not only protecting the environment, but we are also protecting our health.
On January 16th, the DC Council introduced a bill that would establish a deposit-return system for beverage containers in the District, including plastic bottles. This could drastically reduce plastic bottle pollution in the river and reduce the breakdown of plastic into harmful microplastics. This has been a long time coming, and is a result of years of hard work. We are hopeful that the bill will pass and bring us closer to a #PlasticFree Anacostia.
In the meantime, we continue to work to keep existing plastic pollution from entering our waterways. On January 18th, Anacostia Riverkeeper hosted our 11th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Together with 105 volunteers, we collected over 3,500 lbs. of trash from Pope Branch Park. This included an estimated 2,000 plastic bottles.
Every action counts, including yours. You can make a difference to curb plastic pollution today. Write or call your council member and share your opinions about plastic bottle legislation. Don’t know who they are? You can find your councilmember and their contact information at dccouncil.gov/councilmembers.
Take Action
As the voice of the river, Anacostia Riverkeeper will continue to fight for its protection, advocating for clean water and equitable access. We all deserve a clean and healthy Anacostia River and, together, we can make that happen. Let’s make 2025 a big year.
Looking for other ways to get involved? You can:
- Volunteer at a trash cleanup
- Become a community science water quality monitor
- Attend your ANC meeting
- Bring a friend to our free Family Fishing events or on a boat tour
Reach out to info@anacostiariverkeeper.org or visit anacostiariverkeeper.org to learn more about our programs and get involved in advocacy and community engagement opportunities.