5 Tons Of Trash Cleaned Up In Fairfax County Parks

Last Saturday, over 600 volunteers cleaned up more than five tons of trash at Fairfax Parks cleanup day. In other words, that's twice as heavy as a rhinoceros. And some of the items they found were quite unusual.

Led by Fairfax County Park Authority and Nature Conservancy leaders, volunteers spread out at eight different parks from Lake Accotink in Springfield to Huntley Meadows Park. They cleaned 35 miles of stream, shoreline, and trails collectively. Two other cleanups were rescheduled due to the weather.

Here's a look at the cleanups and some unusual objects volunteers found:

Found at Huntley Meadows in Groveton, by Matt Kane/The Nature Conservancy

Volunteers from Wei Hwa Chinese School collected lots of trash at Lake Accotink Park in Springfield, by Julie Tahan

Bike found at Lake Accotink Park by Summer Lockerbie (main image)

Girl Scouts from Oakton clean up Cub Run, by Jennifer Edwards

Norah Pevner, 4, of Burke had fun cleaning up Hidden Pond Park in West Springfield and wants to volunteer at the park when she's older, by Sarah Pevner

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All images courtesy The Nature Conservancy