Highlights and Photos from the 29th Annual Source to Sea Cleanup

Alix Kaplan
2 days ago
4 min read

Group of people cheerfully pose in a park after a cleanup, surrounded by trash bags, with green trees in the background. Bright, sunny day. — Easthampton Beautification Team

The annual Source to Sea Cleanup, organized by Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC), is a regional effort throughout NH, VT, MA, and CT to remove trash from the Connecticut River watershed, including tributaries, riverbanks, and community spaces.

Most cleanups took place during the main event weekend, September 26–27, though many groups began early in August or scheduled events into October. Final results are still being calculated but so far we've counted 118 registered groups with over 1,200 volunteers! Trash tallies are also still being compiled along with stories, photos, partners, and other information — we’ll share those in this year’s Cleanup Chronicle (coming this fall).

If you participated and have photos or stories to share, upload them at sourcetoseacleanup.org.

2025 Participant Highlights

Easthampton Beautification Team returned for their third year of participation. With incredible leadership from Owen Zaret, Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity, and the Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee, this team organized several separate cleanup groups that spread across the town. After picking up trash, the groups rejoined and helped each other out with the trash tallying.

In Greenfield, MA at the Green River Cleanup, over 250 volunteers spread out and picked up all sorts of trash. This was an absolutely massive effort that has been led every year by David Boles, Michael Pattavina, and Charlie Olchowski with his Greenfield Super Sorters who stay all day sorting trash, washing bottles, and making the pile ready for the DPW. Featured on site was Greening Greenfield who provided supplies to volunteers to make upcycled reusable bags.

“Very high-spirited day at the Green River Cleanup where we gathered well-over 16 tons of debris from the Town's four rivers and abundant brooks and streams.” - Michael Pattavina

Person in gloves examines a worn, muddy wallet. Wallet displays faded, colorful cards.

Wallet Returned After Missing for 25 Years!

During a the Deerfield River Trout Unlimited cleanup in Franklin County, a black purse covered in moss was found and almost landed in the trash! Fortunately, it was opened and inside was a set of keys and a fully intact wallet from about 25 years ago. Charlemont Transfer Station Attendant Thorne Palmer Googled the name on the multiple cards in the wallet, and made contact with the owner, a teacher from Rhode Island. In the year 2000, as she and her friends tubed down the river, her car was unfortunately broken into and her purse stolen. It ended up in the woods of Rowe or Charlemont... until cleanup day! The owner was amazed to get the call from Thorne and said it made an unfortunate experience into a great story.

The Fort River Watershed cleanup in Amherst, MA boasted some impressive numbers. With over 200 volunteers, they collected and counted 1,016 cigarette butts, 4,236 pieces of foam packaging, 288 nips, and 161 pounds of scrap metal. That is now all trash diverted from our rivers and streams. This effort was led by Fort River Watershed Association members Brian Yellen and Victoria Quill.

“This is something I have always wanted to do. It felt so good to come and participate. I love the water & the river; it brings me solace. Of course I want to keep it clean.” - Patti O.

All Out Adventures hosted an accessible, all-abilities cleanup of Elwell Island, MA. Senior paddlers, veterans, local college students, and a group from VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System set out in canoes and kayaks to clean up. They dug out trash bins, pallets, broken bottles, shoes, and other debris. An interesting find was an old cassette tape of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride."

Thanks to Colleen Gault who brought Connecticut River Conservancy's Jon boat and Great Meadows Conservation Trust member Denis with his pontoon boat, the Wethersfield Cove cleanup (CT) was able to make an amphibious effort on a lot of trash. Helping lead the charge was CRC Board Member, Tim Lewis. There was so much trash that it turned into a multi-day effort!

SLR Consulting led a cleanup of Whetstone Brook in Brattleboro, VT. Unfortunately, one of their cleanup crew members lost her wedding ring, potentially during the cleanup. If you are in Whetstone Brook and see a ring, please reach out and let them know!

Hypertherm and Black River Action Team (BRAT) in Springfield, VT joined forces to cleanup a total of 17 tires (including a very large tractor trailer tire down in a setback near Hoyt's Landing), 15.5 shopping carts, a relatively new bicycle, 4 bags of recyclable plastic, a full bag of redeemable cans & bottles, 10 bags of straight trash, and more. Shoutout to the RiverSweep team and Kelly Stettner!

Source to Sea cleanup sponsors, Eversource in Connecticut, had a fun and rewarding day removing trash from the pond and trails at Union Pond. A total of 3,383 trash pieces were removed from the trails and pond area. Most of the items collected were nip bottles, plastic/can bottles, food wrappers, tobacco products and other items. According to Rebecca Fowler, Town of Manchester, 560 pounds of regular trash and 460 pounds of metal was collected. Eversource teams in MA and NH also participated in the cleanup.

Ashuelot River Campground in New Hampshire brought back a bigger than they expected load of trash. It was hard going this year with the low water level, but spirits were high. They also noted that the help from folks at the campground after the crew returned was much appreciated.

There were so many wonderful youth groups this year, making a positive impact on their environment. Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH found tires, clothes, and even a bike! The crew sprawled out around the nearby Connecticut River and True's Brook.

Thank you

We saw it all again this year — from old cassettes, rusting kitchenware, dolls, mattresses, etc., to thousands of plastic nips, cigarette butts, and beverage containers.

To everyone who rolled up their sleeves this year — THANK YOU for your time, your commitment, and your energy. The Source to Sea Cleanup wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated community of volunteers, schools, businesses, and river champions.