KEEPING THE NORTHSHORE BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER

Aluminum cans, plastic bottles, abandoned tires, food wrappers, and cigarettes. On any given day, these items can be found on the side of Highway 51 in the Manchac area, disturbing the beauty of this Louisiana waterway and Wildlife Management Area.

Thanks to Osprey Initiative, which is funded by a $160,000 grant to the Tangipahoa Economic Development Foundation from the Air Products Lake Maurepas Community Fund, field crews are providing tailored environmental solutions to help Tangipahoa Parish address this litter challenge.

“Even before Osprey Initiative existed as a company, members of our team were out in the waters of Tangipahoa Parish picking up litter,” said Don Bates, owner and founder of Osprey Initiative. “But for the past eight years, we’ve been working toward a greater vision of cleaner, healthier waterways. And partnerships with organizations like Air Products allow us to do the work and expand our impact throughout the parish. We’re excited to be able to move forward and make an even greater difference with this grant.”

The Osprey Initiative has placed specialized equipment and buoys in Ponchatoula Creek to capture trash and debris that has entered the waterway from nearby passing cars. By capturing the debris early in its release, less damage occurs downstream and into Lake Maurepas.

The Air Products grant is funding several projects that are tailored to address litter problems impacting the Lake Maurepas waterways and surrounding Tangipahoa area. Osprey has installed two litter-getters in the Yellow Water River and Ponchatoula creeks to collect trash before it can reach the lake.

Other projects include water-based tactical cleanup efforts, the development of a litter education program for the Tangipahoa Parish School System, and sponsored litter rodeos. One such project is the Manchac Litter Rodeo, which works with residents who live along the lake’s tributaries and waterways to dispose of larger household items, such as furniture, electronics, and small appliances. Such items may be too difficult to relocate to appropriate disposal sites, causing them to be left along the shorelines or sunken in the water.

“As we’re developing a project in Louisiana, we’re also pouring resources into bettering the environment here in Tangipahoa Parish so everyone who uses this area for fishing and boating can enjoy it. This goes beyond being a good patron of the lake – we want to support community efforts to enhance its beauty,” said Danna Leblanc, Commercial Executive Director of the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex.

Air Products’ Employees Join the Effort

As part of Louisiana’s annual “Love the Boot Week,” which is the state’s largest litter removal and beautification initiative, Air Products’ Louisiana team members spent a morning with the Osprey crew collecting litter, including recyclables, abandoned along a five-mile stretch of Highway 51. Over the course of several hours, team members collected 1,430 pounds of trash, including recyclables, non-recyclables, and non-organic debris, for proper disposal.

“It is deeply important to us as Air Products’ team members that we volunteer in our community. Partnering with the Tangipahoa Economic Development Foundation and Osprey was a perfect way for our employees to be a part of beautifying the Manchac area,” Leblanc said. “We were proud to be one of more than 1,000 litter pick up events in Louisiana during Love the Boot Week.”

To learn more about Air Products’ work in Louisiana, visit CleanEnergyLouisiana.com.