Volunteers Peg Hall, left, and Becca Skelton make reusable bags at the Green River Swimming and Recreation Area in Greenfield as part of the 2019 Source to Sea Cleanup. The cleanups have generated such overwhelming turnouts that last year, organizers decided to form the first Franklin County Rivers Cleanup, which on Friday and Saturday will encompass the 26th anniversary of the Connecticut River Conservancy’s Source to Sea Cleanup and the 19th Green River Cleanup, not to mention the Gill-Montague cleanup. STAFF FILE PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Volunteers Christine Turner, left, and Catherine Keppler work to sort through pieces for recycling brought to the Green River Swimming and Recreation Area in Greenfield as part of the 2019 Source to Sea Cleanup. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

State Sen. Jo Comerford, left, and Katie Hereld of Easthampton load a cart with waste during the 2021 Franklin County Rivers Cleanup. Staff File Photo/CHRIS LARABEE

Green River Cleanup organizer John David Boles hauls one of the dozens of tires discarded on the bank of the Green River during the 2018 event. RECORDER FILE PHOTO

Groff Park in Amherst will be the starting point for the Fort River Cleanup, one of numerous sites throughout the Pioneer Valley that will be part of the Connecticut River Conservancy’s 26th annual Source to Sea Cleanup on Friday and Saturday.

Volunteers will gather at the Mill Lane site on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon to remove trash and debris from the Fort River, which is the longest tributary of the Connecticut River that offers free passage for fish and other species.

“A big part of the cleanup is not just the impact it makes by picking up trash, but bringing people into the fold of caring for the river,” said Brian Yellen, a member of the Fort River Watershed Association.

Those who come will be sent out to 20 different places along the watershed where they will be removing mostly consumer products that have been dumped, such as bottles, gum wrappers and foam cups. Yellen said many of these foam cups, based on past experience, come from a popular regional coffee and doughnut chain.

People of all abilities and ages are welcome to participate.

The Fort River, which passes though parts of Amherst, Shutesbury, Pelham, Belchertown and Hadley, is home to several species of freshwater mussel, including the dwarf wedgemussel, which is on the federal endangered species list.

In Northampton, groups that will focus on the Meadows area of the Connecticut River will be out from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, starting at the Northampton Airport, and again on Sept. 30 from 9 to 11 a.m., when volunteers will clean up along various farm roads to the river, as well as spots along the waterway, including a party area and toward Rainbow Beach.

At the Sept. 30 cleanup, Victoria Quill is coordinating volunteers. Quill said she anticipates finding alcohol nips, fishing line and cigarette butts, along with larger items such as tires, mattresses and scrap metal. Everything collected will be tallied and reported back to the Connecticut River Conservancy.

Trash will then be brought to the Northampton Department of Public Works, where a dumpster is being made available to team leaders.

Easthampton has the Oxbow and Manhan River cleanup, with volunteers to meet Saturday at 8 a.m. at Hulberts Pond Bridge on Old Springfield Road. In Hadley, the Friends of Lake Warner and the Mill River plan to start in Lot 12 on the University of Massachusetts campus, both Friday and Saturday, with the cleanup running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In Holyoke, the Conservation Commission and Department of Conservation and Recreation are teaming up to clean a section of the Connecticut River at Slim Shad Point, located at 3 Bridge St. in Holyoke, on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Slim Shad is an all-accessible connection to the river, a popular fishing spot. Gloves, supplies and snacks will be provided.

Advance registration is recommended, and available at  https://secure.qgiv.com/event/source2seacleanup/team/905279/.

To the north, organizers are forming the first Franklin County Rivers Cleanup, which on Friday and Saturday will encompass both the Source to Sea Cleanup and the 19th Green River Cleanup, and the Gill-Montague cleanup.

David Boles, the coordinator of the annual Green River Cleanup, said that about 35% of Greenfield’s water comes from the Green River.

“The concern I have is, it goes from Grade A, high-quality water to extremely poor quality when it enters the Deerfield River after having gone through Greenfield,” he said.

Individual schools and businesses will take to the rivers and tributaries on Friday, and the massive cleanup effort will take place the following day. Boles said volunteers will meet at the Green River Swimming and Recreation Area on Nash’s Mill Road at 9 a.m. on Saturday to receive “marching orders.”

Boles said volunteers are also needed to help sort and recycle some of the items that are removed from the river.

The watershed is littered with empty bottles of varying sizes, said Boles, who backs a new Massachusetts Bottle Bill that would increase from 5 cents to 10 cents the amount people receive for recycling bottles and cans. The refund value has not been updated since the bill was implemented in 1983.

Oregon’s refund value is 10 cents, and Boles said the increase has had a tremendous impact on the state. Connecticut will also see a hike in the near future.

Visit ctriver.org/cleanup to register, join a group, form a group or become a sponsor in the Franklin County Rivers Cleanup. Interested participants can also call Source to Sea Cleanup Coordinator Stacey Lennard at 413-772-2020, ext. 211.

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