Thousands Clean up Across Virginia for 2026 Clean the Bay Day

Thousands of volunteers across Virginia have picked up at least 31,000 pounds of litter as of late Saturday as part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Clean the Bay Day, Virginia’s largest and longest-running litter cleanup.

Sporadic rain and a somewhat chilly morning in parts of the Commonwealth were no match for the more than 2,300 volunteers that gathered at sites across Virginia on foot and by boat, where they removed at least 31,000 pounds of litter and debris and filled at least 1,000 trash bags, according to preliminary estimates.

“Clean the Bay Day is the ultimate example of ‘many hands make light work,’” said CBF Hampton Roads Outreach & Advocacy Manager Lisa Renée Jennings. “In just a few hours, volunteers picked up tens of thousands of pounds of litter that’s now no longer at risk of polluting our rivers and streams, as well as the Chesapeake Bay.”

Cleanups were held at scores of sites across Virginia, including in Hampton Roads, Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Richmond, the Shenandoah Valley, and Northern Virginia. Many partner groups, including Virginia’s state parks, joined CBF within the Chesapeake Bay watershed by hosting cleanup sites.

The most common items found during clean-ups are plastic and glass bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bags, and cigarette butts. But volunteers recovered many larger items, such as a bait bucket, and some unusual items like a bag of bullets, a rusty machete, and mannequin legs.

Volunteers at Ancarrow’s Landing in Richmond also helped cut loose an entangled fishing line from a large stick to make sure it was thrown away.

Typically held the first Saturday in June, Clean the Bay Day’s earlier date this year helped allow more families to participate and helped provide a cooler—albeit rainy in some spots—climate in which to clean up.

Volunteers participating in Saturday’s event included elected officials, community leaders, small businesses, large corporations, and thousands of other Virginians.

Edward Jones is the presenting sponsor for Clean the Bay Day in 2026. Other valued sponsors include Cox Communications, ITC Federal, LLC, and the Port of Virginia.

Since 1989, Clean the Bay Day has mobilized over 177,000 volunteers who have removed over 7.1 million pounds of debris from our land and waterways.