Making a difference in the water

By: Dustin Looney
Features Editor

Everyone has heard the common expression “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Chad Pregracke obviously has a strong will, and somehow he found a way to accomplish what many considered a highly impractical goal.

In 1997, Pregracke was disgusted by the abundance of garbage which was in and on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Being the naïve college student that he was, he simply decided to clean up a 435 mile stretch of the river, from St. Louis, Mo., to northern Illinois.

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, Pregracke visited Monmouth College to speak to the student body about his adventures. He spoke in the Dahl Chapel and Auditorium. He was at Monmouth primarily to speak to the freshman class as part of the freshman year exemplary life studies program.

The idea of analyzing what constitutes an exemplary life has been a theme of the required freshman class, Introduction to Liberal Arts (I.L.A.), at Monmouth College for a few years.

Pregracke told his story in a charismatic and humorous narrative which was sure to inspire all who were present.

Pregracke began the convocation by telling how he initially began his mission. He grew up in the Quad Cities, in a house on the Mississippi River. He was always on or around the water, and even held a job as a commercial shell diver.

All his life, Pregracke was exposed to the beauty of the Mississippi, but as time went on he began to notice garbage accumulating all along his beloved river. He decided to take action and clean up after the slobs of this world.

He thought the project was so important that he contacted various corporations to sponsor his efforts; his initial goal was to collect $100,000 to fund a full-time staff.

“I just called up and didn’t take no for an answer,” Pregracke said. “Ignorance is bliss.”

His initial efforts were pretty discouraging, and he only got one corporation to contribute. Instead of giving up, he resiliently decided to take matters into his own hands and started the cleanup by himself.

Using his own boat, he started the overwhelming job of picking up garbage and litter along a 435 mile stretch of the Mississippi. After a short period of time, many people began to notice and appreciate his work efforts, and they began to tell his story to the local newspapers.

Pregracke said he was skeptical about having an article published about his efforts; he was not seeking publicity and felt that his efforts were more of a personal crusade, something he was doing for himself and not for attention.

He was convinced, by his parents, to give an interview to a local newspaper, however, and eventually the story made its way into newspapers all around the country via the Associated Press.

Soon after CNN ran a short feature on Pregracke, his impossible dream was inspiring others and becoming a reality.

In 1998, Pregracke founded Living Lands and Waters, a non-profit organization based out of East Moline. His organization has grown to include several full-time employees and thousands of people who volunteer to assist annually. The organization cleans up several rivers each year, and their list continues to grow.

Living Lands and Waters has many sponsors, and it also conducts fundraisers to make additional money for the cause.

Pregracke’s efforts have now been widely recognized, and he has been featured in “Time,” “Biography,” Smithsonian” and “People” magazines, among others.