{"id":182710,"date":"2026-03-08T01:54:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T01:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/182710\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T01:54:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T01:54:54","slug":"bay-area-volunteers-remove-thousands-of-pounds-of-trash-and-invasive-plants-during-cleanup-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/182710\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area volunteers remove thousands of pounds of trash and invasive plants during cleanup events"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bay Bay Area takes part in ‘Greatest American Cleanup’<\/a> <\/p>\n

Volunteers across the Tampa area spent Saturday picking up trash, removing invasive plants and helping restore local ecosystems as part of the nationwide “Greatest American Cleanup” campaign. FOX 13’s Jennifer Kveglis reports.<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Volunteers across the Bay Area <\/a>spent Saturday picking up trash, removing invasive plants and helping restore local ecosystems as part of the nationwide “Greatest American Cleanup” campaign.<\/p>\n

Nationwide Cleanup :<\/p>\n

The effort, organized by Keep America Beautiful<\/a>, aims to remove 25 billion pounds of litter across the country\u00a0before Independence Day, when the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Keep Manatee Beautiful\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Affiliate organizations in Hillsborough<\/a>, Manatee <\/a>and Pasco <\/a>counties held cleanup events to contribute to that goal.<\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

At Picnic Island Park, nearly 80 volunteers\u00a0with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, the city of Tampa Green Team and Radiant Church\u00a0worked for hours clearing invasive Brazilian pepper trees and collecting litter.<\/p>\n

READ: Child playing with matches ignites Hernando County house fire, 4 people and 3 pets displaced: HCFR<\/a><\/p>\n

The fast-growing plant forms dense canopies that crowd out native vegetation and threaten mangroves in coastal areas.<\/p>\n

Volunteers chopped down branches, hauled debris and cleared thousands of pounds of plant material from along Picnic Island Boulevard.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Keep Manatee Beautiful\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Others spread out through the park collecting trash, including cans, cigarette butts and party streamers.<\/p>\n

Organizers estimate the cleanup at the park alone removed more than\u00a036,000 pounds of debris and vegetation.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Brazilian pepper trees<\/a> are considered a highly invasive species\u00a0in Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to volunteers, the plant spreads easily when berries fall into nearby waterways, allowing seeds to travel and grow in new areas.<\/p>\n

As the trees spread, they can block sunlight and prevent native plants, including mangroves, from growing.<\/p>\n

Removing the species helps restore natural habitats and protect wildlife that depends on native vegetation.<\/p>\n

The work wasn\u2019t limited to Tampa.<\/p>\n

About 100 volunteers with Keep Manatee Beautiful\u00a0collected trash along the Manatee Avenue Causeway, filling a 4,700-pound dumpster\u00a0with litter.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Keep Manatee Beautiful\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, crews with Suncoast Aquaventures\u00a0headed out on the water to remove debris from local waterways. Their total haul is still being calculated.<\/p>\n

Cleanup events were also held in Pasco County through Keep Pasco Beautiful.<\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

Residents who want to participate in future efforts can join Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful\u2019s sixth Annual Great Port Cleanup, scheduled for April 17 at three locations around the bay.<\/p>\n

Organizers say volunteer events like these help keep local waterways clean while protecting native plants and wildlife.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this article comes from on-scene reporting, interviews with volunteers and organizers, and observations from cleanup events held Saturday at Picnic Island Park and other locations across the Tampa Bay area.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Manatee County<\/a>Pasco County<\/a>Environment<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bay Area takes part in ‘Greatest American Cleanup’ Volunteers across the Tampa area spent Saturday picking up trash,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1563,47,629,4134,115,4136,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-182710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-environment","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-manatee","tag-news","tag-pasco","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}