Volunteers Remove More Than 10,000 Pounds of Trash From Peddocks Island

More than 200 volunteers dedicated four days during the week of Sept. 14 to a significant cleanup effort on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor.

According to 7 News WHDH Boston, the volunteers collected more than 10,000 pounds of debris from Boston Harbor's water and beaches. Peddocks Island is the last of the five Boston Harbor islands to get cleaned up.

Volunteers collected dozens of bags filled with trash and recovered large items such as a couch, a chair, and several tires from the island.

Directors with the Center for Coastal Studies said that without people willing to volunteer their time, cleanups such as this one would not be able to occur. 

“The people that come out for this kind of effort are dedicated. They want to see a difference in what they are doing,” said Laura Ludwig, director of the Marine Debris and Plastic Programs at the Center for Coastal Studies, in a statement shared with 7 News WHDH. “They spend the time. They are here all day. They pack their own lunches. They schlep across the five-mile island.”

According to Ludwig, smaller cleanups have been held on Peddocks Island off and on, but the extent of the debris that has collected there has increased over the years.