Spring cleaning: a community affair

Residents of the Sleepy Hollow community (pictured here) joined more than 5,000 volunteers throughout the region for the 24th Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup last Saturday.

The Sleepy Hollow volunteers spent the morning picking up
trash along Tripps Run, while other groups in the Annandale area concentrated
on portions of Holmes Run and Accotink Creek.

The event, sponsored by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, is aimed
at reducing litter in the streams that feed into the Potomac watershed  and educating the public about the value of clean waterways.

Final results haven’t been tabulated yet, but as of April
20, the foundation reported that 94.6  tons of trash had been removed from the
watershed, including 98,000 recyclable beverage containers, 15,700 plastic
bags, 17,900 cigarette butts, 1,060 tires, and 40 shopping carts. The top brand
names on trash collected were McDonald’s, Pepsi, Deer Park, and Budweiser.

Among the items found: a plastic sword, a fake bird, two
Blackberries, a bed frame, a full-size air conditioning unit, a weight lifting
bench, three rolls of chain link fencing, Christmas decorations, homemade
drug-related items, an ancient car door, lawn chairs, a remote control, and an American
flag.