Volunteers Celebrate Earth Day by Cleaning Up the Charles River

On a sunny, warm Saturday morning this April thousands of people gathered along the banks of the Charles River, from downtown Boston out to Waltham and Needham, to pick up trash. The 11th Annual Charles River Clean Up was organized by a coalition of organizations, including Building Impact’s partner, the Charles River Conservancy.

Building Impact volunteers gathered at the Weld Boathouse near Harvard Square, put on their free Charles River Clean Up T-shirts, and got right to work. Our group was responsible for the area from the JFK Street bridge to the Weeks foot bridge, and by noon the area was scoured clean of all trash. Volunteers of all ages contributed to the effort, including a dog named Penny who found an old tennis ball and deposited it in the trash heap.

Thanks to all of our great volunteers, the green areas along the Charles will be a clean, safe space for everyone to enjoy as the weather gets warmer. Thanks also to the Charles River Conservancy for organizing the day and providing all of the materials, including snacks for the volunteers!

Our volunteers were proud to have pulled the trash out of the river, but sad that it was there in the first place.

Hundreds of people turned out all along the banks of the Charles in Cambridge alone.

Mike was hard at work, enjoying the sunshine.

Seth and Nancy picked up trash along the roadside.

Nagib and his nieces picked up trash while volunteers across the river did too.

Penny the dog was a dedicated helper all morning

Trash no longer in the river!