Project Clean Stream

Keeping our Parks and Streams Clean

Project Clean Stream, started in 2002, in partnership with local conservation groups, businesses and communities, is a Chesapeake seasonal clean up where local volunteers pick up trash from parks and streams and raise awareness about the importance of individual environmental stewardship.

Every year, tens of thousands of volunteers come together to pick up trash from local streams, creeks, rivers, parks, and neighborhoods as part of the Alliance’s Project Clean Stream! We provide supplies for cleanups anywhere in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (all 6 Bay states and the District). For events outside of the Lancaster area in PA- check out Keep PA Beautiful.

Through Project Clean Stream, the Alliance offers hands-on opportunities through our partnership with residents, local businesses, environmental organizations, local governments, community groups, houses of worship, schools and universities, to come together to take action to restore clean waters to local streams, creeks, and rivers. Volunteers have the opportunity to pick-up trash in their communities, discover how their everyday decisions affect the overall health of their local waterways, and ultimately foster a healthier and more sustainable relationship with the Chesapeake.

Find a Cleanup

View All Cleanups

Video Tutorials

Register a cleanup

Report Trashy Area Here

Project Clean Stream Introduction Video

Site Captain Training Video

How to Register a PCS Event

How to Register as a PCS Volunteer

Thanks to our 2020 Project Clean Stream Partners & Sponsors

Our Impact

In 2019, Project Clean Stream brought in approximately 2.5 MILLION lbs of trash with more than 50,000 volunteers across thousands of cleanup sites!

Photo courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program

How it Works

The Alliance works with site captains to coordinate local cleanup events, and provides cleanup supplies such as trash bags and gloves.

Anyone can organize a cleanup, as long as the cleanup is located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed! If you organize a cleanup event, you will be responsible for picking up supplies (if needed).

Safety Guidelines for 2021 Project Clean Stream

The Alliance recommends that cleanup events remain relatively small, with no more than 25 individuals, even if more are allowed by state or local regulations. Please follow your local jurisdiction’s restrictions.
If your site is in a highly populated or traveled area, please schedule the cleanup during non-peak hours.
The Alliance will be hosting “pick-up” dates for site captains to retrieve their supplies in Annapolis, MD. Please click here to see a list of dates and times for supply pick-up, and sign up for a time slot that works for you. Alliance employees handing out supplies will remain outside, wearing a mask, and maintain a physical distance. If none of these dates or times work, please contact Lucy Heller at lheller@allianceforthebay.org.
We are moving our volunteer waiver online so that volunteers will be able to complete the waiver in advance of the cleanup. This is a document provided every year and has historically been distributed in paper form at the cleanup events. We also ask Site Captains to complete this form and ask volunteers to submit the completed form at their earliest convenience.
As a reminder, if you have not already done so, please fill out the information about your clean up event here at your earliest convenience.