Spring has sprung and local citizens have sprung into action to help clean up some of the local treasures that make this little city so magnificent. Over the last couple of weekends, volunteers were found in the Marshlands Conservancy, the Bird Sanctuary and Oakland Beach removing trash and the detritus of winter and planting and pruning to make way for the warm weather.

Seventeen people removed 48 pounds of trash from the Marshlands Conservancy, from the Causeway to Maries Neck and from the Island Loop Trail on April 13, according to Marshlands Curator Michael Gambino. “Take Out the Trash” is a monthly event at the Marshlands, and the next one is scheduled for Saturday, May 11, followed by another on Saturday, June 15.

On the same day, volunteers fanned out across the Bird Homestead on Milton Road to rake, plant, trim, bundle, sweep, hedge, whack, lift, bag, pile, drag, cut, and prune. Members of the Rye Sustainability Committee participated and the effort was part of the Town of Rye’s Community Cleanup Day, a multi-municipality effort that chose sites in Rye, Mamaroneck, Rye Town, Port Chester, and Rye Brook.

The trustees of the Bird Homestead said their collective response to the effort was “Wow. Just wow!” They were especially excited about the pollinator garden that was planted in front of the Meeting House.

On Sunday, April 21, in celebration of Earth Day, Friends of Rye Town Park and Save the Sound collaborated to bring together more than 60 volunteers to comb the beach and clear away plastic and trash that had washed up onto the beach over the winter. Volunteers plucked plastic straws, bottle caps, ribbons, candy wrappers, Styrofoam, cigarette butts, and more from the sand, according to Diana Page, who heads up Friends of Rye Town Park.

Volunteers included neighbors of the park, as well as park users who hailed from Greenwich, Stamford, and White Plains. In addition, members of the Rye Sustainability Committee; local Girl Scout and Daisy troops; members of Bad Sisters, the cold-water plunging group; and a group from the German International School in White Plains pitched in.