181 Stalwarts Haul in Trash

It was billed as a mega-trash cleanup and it lived up to its name – all 2,505 pounds of it.

On March 22, 2025, 181 volunteers collected trash along the Potomac River shoreline and in Dyke Marsh – from bottle caps to car tires, from cigarette butts to soggy socks. They hauled out soiled diapers, a shopping cart, lumber, a rusty iron pipe and those ubiquitous plastic bottles, aluminum cans and Styrofoam pieces.

Five cosponsoring organizations joined forces: the National Park Service, the Friends of Dyke Marsh, the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, the Potomac Conservancy and Blue Star Families Connect.  

And while the numbers are impressive, the Friends of Dyke Marsh hope to make these cleanups unnecessary.

National Park Service Volunteer Coordinator Scott Hill and FODM intern Alyssa Schaaf staffed check-in tables and assembled the collected trash at the Haul Road Trail entrance.  First four photos by Glenda Booth

Ayne Whitehead hauled out an old, iron, rusty object, maybe a pipe.

Volunteers found a foam pillow and metal grill.

FODM encouraged volunteers to collect the small items, like cigarette butts, bottle caps and pieces of Styrofoam.

Collecting trash in a wooded area  This and remaining photos by Cassie Arnold

Collecting trash along the river

Typical plastic debris

Collected trash at Belle Haven Park