More than 400 volunteers ventured out into the cold rainy morning on Saturday, April 17 to take part in NepRWA’s annual spring cleanup.

Equipped with gloves, trash grabbers, and the will to make a difference, they convened at 16 different locations and cleaned up the parks, trails, and marshes of the Neponset River and estuary.

Cleanups took place in Canton, Dedham, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Milton, Norwood, and Quincy.

View photos of the cleanup.

Organized by dedicated site captains and community leaders, volunteers removed 28 tons of trash, which included:

• 548 trash bags of litter (bottles, cans, food packaging, plastics, etc.)
• 300 + nips
• 29 tires
• 38 hypodermic needles
• 4 carpets/ area rugs
• Refrigerator door
• 6 Car parts
• 2 plastic shopping baskets
• the base of a light post
• a tent
• 28 large pieces of Styrofoam
• 2 docks
• 3 buoys
• 5 bags of invasive plants
• 2 bags of sand
• 1 couch frame
• 1 small engine block
• 1 gas-powered leaf blower engine
• 1 mobile basketball backboard, pole, and stand.
• 12 feet barbed wire
• 1 backyard inflatable kiddie pool
• 1 car battery
• 4 shovels
• 4 pairs of sneakers
• 1 shopping cart frame, and
• 1 baseball diamond home plate, which had been previously stolen
• 1 shopping cart
• 28ft of steel pipe
• 5 bags driftwood
• 1 baseball bat
• 1 plastic lawn chair
• 1 folding chair
• 1 pool cover
• 1 tripod
• 1 blanket
• 1 basketball
• 1 soccer ball
• 2 trash barrels
• 1 broom handle
• 1 broom with no handle
• 4 car mats
• 2 milk crates
• 1 stuffed animal
• 2 empty paint cans
• 1 suitcase
• 4 plastic gallon bottles
• 1 winter coat
• multiple cinder blocks
• 1 metal bed frame
• 1 pair rubber boots
• multiple shoes
• 1 vacuum cleaner
• Metal rail (from a train?)
• many ropes
• 1 TV cathode tube

Thanks to our partners…

MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Belnel Neighborhood Association, Clean Up Boston, Dorchester Running Club, East River Neighborhood Association, Edgewater Neighborhood Association, Friends of the Boston Harbor Walk, Keep Hyde Park Beautiful, Milton DPW, Milton High School Earth Club, Norwood DPW, Norwood Trails Committee, Quincy DPW, Quincycles, and Quincy Asian Resources INC. (QARI) Youth ServiceCorps.

And to photographers Alec Aman, Sarah Brooks, Hannah Carlson, Ellen Curran, Joe Greeley, Carole Mooney, Tom Palmer, and Lara Saavedra.

…and sponsors!