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Participate in the 28th Annual Clean the Bay Day in Hampton Roads

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Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from Virginia Beach by Pete Federico

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from Virginia Beach by Pete Federico

CHESAPEAKE BAY, Va. – It’s time for the Chesapeake Bay’s spring cleaning! Clean the Bay Day is now in it’s 28th year. On June 4, thousands of  volunteers from a diverse background came together to clean litter and debris from the Bay.

Around 6,000 volunteers removed approximately 138,000 pounds of accumulated trash during the three-hour event.

“Thousands across Virginia came out this morning to do their part for the Bay and its many waterways,” said CBF Clean the Bay Day Coordinator Tanner Council. “With so many volunteers working in concert, a massive amount of harmful debris has been removed in just a few short hours – and the sites are healthier and more beautiful for it.”

This clean up helps to keep habitats intact for local animals and also teaches children how to be proactive in environmental stewardship.

The most common items found included plastic bottles, plastic bags and cigarette butts.

Volunteers also pulled weird items from the rivers and streams, including a lottery ticket station, a crock pot, a jet ski, a complete car transmission and an axle, multiple mattresses, a teddy bear with Mardi Gras beads, an enormous stuffed bear, a taxidermy deer head, a screen door, a smart phone, one walkie-talkie and two kitchen sinks.

Approximately 146,000 volunteers have removed more than 6.3 million pounds of trash from more than 6,940 miles of shoreline since Clean the Bay Day began in 1989.