Pickup by paddleboard: Fairfax County man collects tons of Potomac River trash
FORT HUNT, Va. (ABC7) — Just before the sun rises on any given day, Joe Wright is preparing to set out on the Potomac River on his paddleboard.
He's not going to watch the sunrise but rather collect trash and litter.
Wright doesn't think he's going to change the world. But, he's doing what he can to make a difference one day at a time.
The Fairfax County man, who goes by SUP Garbage Man on Instagram, has been collecting trash from the Potomac River since 2019.
"I was out here one day and I saw trash floating," Wright said. "I filled a carton and have been doing it ever since."
His bio on Instagram says "solo work to show what just one human can do."
Altogether, it takes him about one hour to paddle out and fill a handful of bins with trash.
“My skill set is being able to go out in the dark, climbing around in the dirt and doing all of this before I go to work” Wright explained.
He does this in his free time before he heads to a full-time job where he works 40 hours a week.
“I’m not an environmentalist, I have no political agenda," Wright said. "I just know that doesn’t belong out there."
He has been doing this four to five days out of the week for the last two years.
“This is a problem," Wright thought when he first started, "I got to start taking pictures of it and documenting it and showing the world.”
His social media account is filled with pictures of the work he's done, and the trash he's collected.
He doesn't give his name and never shows his face. He said he doesn't want recognition.
"I’m up to 2500 cubic feet of trash." According to Wright, he says that amounts to more than four dumpsters.
He's found everything you can imagine from oil, a vile of blood, gas cans and tons of plastic.
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