6th Annual Trash Summit to be held at Founders Hall on Mason's Arlington campus

Mason Alumna Ashlea Smith is coordinating the trash summit event to be held at Founders Hall on Mason's Arlington campus. (logo used with permission)

The 6^th annual Trash Summit will take place at George Mason University’s Founders Hall, on the Arlington campus, Oct. 19 from 8:30-4:30 p.m.

The event is a part of the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative led by the Alice Ferguson Foundation. The summit is a meeting of local stakeholders who are seeking to spread awareness and action to help protect the Potomac River from waste and pollution.

The Trash Summit is being co-sponsored by the GMU School of Public Policy and Mason Alumna Ashlea Smith is one of the coordinators of the initiative.

Smith says the organization is committed to working to clean-up the watershed because there is so much trash in the Potomac River and it is being littered every day.

The Potomac River Watershed is described as a sink with a drain emptying into a pipe. The sink basin represents the communities which have an environmental impact on the river. The river is represented by the drain.

The area the watershed covers includes parts of VA, MD, PA, and West Virginia.

Smith says the organization knew years ago the river needed to be cleaned-up. After struggling to notice any real change, however, the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative was launched in 2005.

The initiative now focuses on a range of efforts to control the problem. These efforts include engaging individuals, looking to make infrastructure changes to support their mission, and learning about new technologies to help manage waste water treatment.

Dr. Dann Sklarew, Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy, explained how Mason became involved with the project.

“With the School of Public Policy increasingly pursuing sustainability-related initiatives, this (Trash Summit] seemed like a natural fit,” said Sklarew.

The event is open to the public and Smith says she expects there to be about 300 in attendance.

There are a limited number of free student tickets available. Interested individuals should email Ashlea Smith at asmith@fergusonfoundation.org