Over a year and half, we've seen some unusual things at our cleanups, but cleaning up along the River Terrace Recreation Area in D.C. was unlike anything we have come across. Amongst the reeds of the marshlands that bordered the shores of the Anacostia were layers of food wrappers and thousands of plastic bottles. In total, we picked up 3,989 pounds of trash from the Anacostia River! 

We removed 144 pounds of trash during our last "Tuesday at The River" cleanup. Half of the trash we collected was plastic water bottles, which always has a home along the banks of the river. 

UBB has had quite the busy summer! Since April, we've held 7 cleanups at Bartram's Garden and picked up 2,538 pounds of trash! We've worked with student groups, met some amazing community volunteers and even cleaned up after a hurricane and tropical storm.

United By Blue teamed up with Pico’s Worldwide to clean up Bear Creek in Hawthorne Park in Medford, Oregon. In a few hours, Pico's Worldwide staff and  volunteers removed 246 pounds of litter from Bear Creek. Volunteers found a lot of plastic bottles and food wrappers, not to mention odd items like a football, a road cone, a few sleeping bags, some shoes and a Frankenstein comic book. Hawthorne Park and the Bear Creek Greenway, a 17-mile trail that runs through it, are frequented by cyclists and joggers wishing to enjoy the outdoors. 

After this weekend's storm, we spent the week wondering what kind of presents Irene left us at Bartram's Garden. The Schuylkill was incredibly high and brought in boatloads of litter compared to our past Bartram's Garden cleanups. 

In just two hours, we removed 292 recyclables and 128 pounds of trash from the Garden's banks. During the cleanup, we found a tricycle that was missing its front tire (is that still a tricycle or does that make it a bicycle?), a happy meal toy still in the wrapper, a little kid's hat and a very creepy missed connection "love letter".