The man behind the Onion Bag has a plan to heal Ohio’s rivers

PLEASANT TOWNSHIP — Curtis Casto’s blue Chrysler van is littered with stickers. One has been his motto for nearly his entire life: s— happens.

Above the profanity-laced sticker is another one, “The Onion Bag Project.”

Casto can consistently be found with a red onion bag in his hand. From the Mahoning, Marietta and Muskingum Watershed, red bags can be found scattered throughout Ohio —approximately 140 of them.

“Our goal is to put in 1,200 of these (red bags) in the next five years,” Casto said.

Casto, a volunteer of The Onion Bag Project, places empty onion bags in wooden boxes throughout the Kokosing River access for litter prevention.

“If you see my backyard, I have 50 of those onion boxes ready to go and I should have them in by the end of August,” Casto said.

The project first began with the local nonprofit Paddle for Heroes. When Steven Fleming, president of the organization, visited his hometown he shared that there were similar boxes next to the Sturgeon River in Michigan.

Casto’s journey with The Onion Bag Project began roughly four years ago, expanding the project yearly.

He has grown to care about litter prevention with age, admitting to his share of throwing litter out the window.

Now, picking up litter is an obsession, Casto said.

“I was retired, then COVID hit,” Casto said.

Casto was diabetic, overweight and passive.

“So I got serious and lost 110 pounds, most of it by kayaking,” he said. “I got involved in Paddle for Heroes and then The Onion Bag Project.”

As a member of Paddle for Heroes, Casto was asked if he could build a box to contain the onion bags.

“So, I started putting them up and it just snowballed from there,” he said.

How Kokosing healed via The Onion Bag

The Onion Bag wasn’t Paddle for Heroes’ “main stay mission,” Casto said. It was more like a side project for the veterans group.

“The Onion Bag Man” nickname has graced Casto due to his recycling ventures. Those who join his river cleanup escapades earn similar monikors, he said.

Once Casto retires from The Onion Bag Project, he aspires to join Living Lands & Waters, where large-scale trash is pulled from the Ohio, Muskingum and Mississippi Rivers.

“I could be a captain of my own little boat and go out and pick up garbage every day,” Casto said. “Love to pick up garbage. I don’t know why.”

In the four years Casto has been cleaning rivers, he’s seen the Kokosing slowly nursed back to health.

“It’s nice to go down the Kokosing in the last four years and see how it’s changed,” Casto said. “It’s almost litter-free now.”