Southwire recently made a $5,000 donation to West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA), directed toward their Proctor Creek Trash Trap Network Education Project. 

WAWA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), community-based organization that has been successful in preserving over 400 acres of greenspace from development in Southwest Atlanta. From small beginnings, WAWA now operates the Outdoor Activity Center (OAC), a 26-acre urban forest preserve and nature center and is a steward of the nearby 135-acre Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and the nearly 200-acre Lionel Hampton Beecher Hills Preserve; all in Southwest Atlanta. WAWA believes that a healthy environment equals a healthy community, and their overall efforts are focused on growing a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable West Atlanta.

WAWA and Southwire have a common mission in giving back to the communities in which they live and work and know that, to accomplish that mission, it takes a hands-on approach of sustainable practices. The Proctor Creek Trash Trap Network Education Project was founded in 2019 and was created in effort to clean-up waste in local waterways and create cleaner, safer waterways, parks and communities.

“Southwire is pleased to support WAWA in its mission to protect the watershed and greenspace in West Atlanta,” said Bo Quick, Southwire’s senior director of sustainability and environmental partnerships. “WAWA’s community engagement focus resonates with our company leadership, our sustainability interests and our desire to provide meaningful civic involvement opportunities for our employees – especially those that live in the greater Atlanta area. We look forward to growing our partnership in the future.” 

On March 6, 12 individuals from WAWA and their partner group, Keeping It Wild, piloted their new water analysis program at Proctor Creek, which will soon open to the community as part of the existing Proctor Creek Trash Trap Network Education Project. A portion of Southwire’s donation has provided temporary picnic tables near the trash traps, creating an outdoor classroom, which will allow students from schools around the greater Atlanta area a space to sit when taking field trips to Proctor Creek to learn about the project in a safe, socially distant way. In the future, the remainder of Southwire’s donation will provide a more permanent, larger picnic table and gazebo structure for long-lasting volunteer and educational opportunities. 

Beyond its educational benefits, this program conducts data collection of water analysis, quantity and quality of trash in the area, pollution monitoring, chemical testing and more. Through this data collection, WAWA will continue to give back to the community and provide sustainable solutions and better practices for the future. 

Southwire’s donation has launched an ongoing partnership with WAWA, and both organizations are excited for the continued sustainable, volunteer and education opportunities moving forward. 

“We are very interested in what the future holds for our organizations,” said Darryl Haddock, WAWA education director. “We know that sustainability is the way forward to give back to our communities environmentally and economically, and I know that WAWA and Southwire will find the path of how we can work together in many different capacities, including giving back, sustainable practices, educational opportunities and more.” 

To learn more about Southwire’s commitment to sustainability, visit www.southwire.com/sustainability.