Forecasted rain didn’t deter the 206 volunteers who took to the streets to pick up a winter’s worth of trash during our annual Earth Day Roadside Cleanup on Saturday, April 26.

Volunteers met at several locations around Mount Desert Island and Trenton donning rain slickers, galoshes, and whatever other water-rappelling gear they could muster. They combed the roadsides on foot, gathering an diversity of debris – from hubcaps and beverage cans to tarps, clothing, plastic bags, Styrofoam, pieces of electronics, old mail, and so much more.

All told, volunteers gathered 372 bags of trash (that’s 72 bags more than last year, which is especially impressive given the rainy weather).

Special thanks to Maine Department of Transportation for taking the extra time to pick up all those bags each year after the cleanup! And thanks also to Hannaford Supermarket for their donation of snacks and water to fuel the volunteers.

Friends of Acadia Earth Day Roadside Cleanup volunteers from Witham Family Hotels pick up trash near Echo Lake. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

A little rain doesn’t dampen roadside cleanup enthusiasm. (Friends of Acadia photo)

This event is a longstanding Friends of Acadia tradition spanning 25 years – our first event taking place in 2000. Familiar faces return year after year, as well as the dedicated attendance of groups from Husson University, UMaine, Terramor Outdoor Resort, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, Bar Harbor Savings and Loan, Witham Family Hotels/Bar Harbor Inn, The Knowles Company, Acadia Shops, MDI YMCA, Jackson Labs, Oceanarium and Education Center, and the Trenton Crew, among others!

We’re also thrilled to welcome first-timers every year, like Anne and Roger Reinhold of Bar Harbor, who volunteered at their first Earth Day Roadside Cleanup on Saturday (although they’ve been Friends of Acadia members for a while). “We think Acadia is such a beautiful place,” said Anne. “We want to do our part to keep it that way.”

Of course, we couldn’t do this event without our amazing 2025 sponsors, including presenting sponsor Chilton Trust.

This event is a community effort. Thank you to all who turned up, picked up, and probably got a little soggy. It makes a difference!

And we encourage residents to celebrate Earth Day all year long by keeping the roadsides trash-free. Please dispose of your trash appropriately. Recycle what you can and put the rest in trash cans. With just a small amount of individual effort, together we can reduce the amount of trash in our communities and help protect our shared lands and waters.

All those in favor of clean roadsides, raise your trash bag (or trash grabber)! (Friends of Acadia photo)

Overcast skies and high-visibility vests during the 2025 Earth Day Roadside Cleanup. (Friends of Acadia photo)

Debris-cleaning duo. (Friends of Acadia photo)

A rocky backdrop to Earth Day Roadside Cleanup. (Friends of Acadia photo)

Group photo. (Friends of Acadia photo)

Group photo. (Friends of Acadia photo)

Group photo at Acadia National Park headquarters. (Shannon Bryan/Friends of Acadia photo)

Roadside trash is sometimes small, sometimes hefty! (Friends of Acadia photo)

Friends of Acadia Earth Day Roadside Cleanup volunteers pick up trash near Hall Quarry. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)