Trash is as common along the Boise River as poison ivy.

It always pops up, year after year, from pop and beer cans to plastic bags. Plastic shopping bags are the scourge of the earth. Why people can't break the habit of using plastic bags and just take reuseable cloth bags whenever they go shopping is a mystery. It's not that difficult.

You see plastic bags blown in trees along the river, clinging to rocks and branches under water and blowing down the highway. But that's a whole other subject about the trash and the outdoors.

The good news is that the Boise River Sweep is Sept. 13 and it's a chance to give back to the river. It's a way to help clean up the river and make it safer for the community.

The clean up will start at 9 a.m. Volunteers should bring their own work gloves. Bags for trash and recyclables will be provided. Participants will hit the river in Boise and Garden City.

To volunteer contact Jerry Pugh, 384-4060, ext. 319, or e-mail registration@cityofboise.org. More information is available at www.cityofboise.org/Departments/Parks/Volunteers/Opportunities/page12363.aspx. You've got to register.