Chad Pregracke, Founder and President of Living Lands & Waters, talks about his mission to clean up water ways on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
License plates pulled from waterways decorate the awnings on the Living Lands & Waters barge as seen on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Clarissa Ibarra, a senior, from Riverside Brookfield High School, photographs the floating classroom, Living Lands & Waters, with its collection of barges carrying garbage including tires pulled from water ways on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
A collection of dolls pulled from the waterways hang like an exhibit on the Living Lands & Waters barge as seen on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Visitors, like Gabriella Bova, a senior, from Riverside Brookfield High School, are encouraged to sign a wall inside the Living Lands & Waters on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Chad Pregracke, Founder and President of Living Lands & Waters, keeps a light hearted approach, striking a pose like a captain of the sea as he talks to students in the class room in the barge on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Letters from license plates spell out the companies name over the head of Chad Pregracke, Founder and President of Living Lands & Waters, as he talks to students in the class room in the barge on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Letters from license plates spell out the companies name over the head of Chad Pregracke, Founder and President of Living Lands & Waters, as he talks to students in the class room in the barge on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Kevin Garvey, a senior, from Riverside Brookfield High School, listens to Chad Pregracke tell stories of cleaning up rivers in the classroom on the Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Garage doors opened on the sides of the barge allow students to see the Des Palines River as Chad Pregracke tells stories of cleaning up rivers in the classroom on the Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Musician Ellis Kell plays a variety of Mississippi River blues for students in the Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Living Lands & Waters barge and its tug boat River Cleanup II on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
The Living Lands & Waters floating classroom on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Travis and Porckchop ride the bow of a plate boat as it takes students out to a floating classroom the Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Tammy Becker talks to students as she takes them out to the floating classroom, Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Samantha Goldsmith, a senior, from Riverside Brookfield High School, gets her first look at a floating classroom, Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Porckchop rises up to meet his home the Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Gabriella Bova, a senior, from Riverside Brookfield High School, boards the floating classroom, Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
Monica Fiala, a senior, from Riverside Brookfield High School, looks around the floating classroom, Living Lands & Waters, a 150-foot-long barge, on the Des Plaines River at Big Basin Marina in Channahon, Illinois, Tuesday, October 16, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media
In 1997, Chad Pregracke founded Living Lands & Waters. He and his group navigate the Mississippi River and its major tributaries — on a continuing mission to clean up a great American waterway. They recruit local volunteers, and together they remove tires, signs and all kinds of bizarre junk from the water. His fleet boat and barges were recently on the Des Plaines River in Channahon, preparing for a cleanup effort with volunteers. … Read More
