Wareham High School students did their part to clean up Charlotte Furnace Road this Sunday, as part of the town’s Don’t Trash Wareham initiative.

The Don’t Trash Wareham initiative was a townwide cleanup initiative organized by a small, five-person committee to try to combat Wareham’s trash problem. Organized cleanup groups and individuals picked up trash around Wareham on May 30 and 31, to kick off what the Don’t Trash Wareham group hopes is a continuous effort to keep the town clean.

High school science teacher Craig Berriault, who led the cleanup, said he estimated about 13 students volunteered to help. Most were from his AP environmental course, but two were from the Honors Society.

“They wanted to come out, and see the trash firsthand, and pick it up,” Berriault said. “It’s a good thing when you encourage something positive like that.”

Berriault estimated about four or five different school groups helped pick up the trash over the weekend. He said he and the students, as well as a parent who volunteered to help, collected about 15 large trashbags full of junk in three hours along the stretch of road.

Wareham junior and AP environmental student Aleksandra Jensen said she is glad she participated in the cleanup.

“I have a feeling for animals … and all the trash around is bad for birds and other wildlife that’s around,” Jensen said. “It obstructs plant growth, and things like that.”

Berriault said he thinks the students not only helped the town and environment, but learned something, too.

“I think it shows them it takes work to change things,” Berriault said. “You can talk about it all you want, but if you go out, and people see it, it carries forward.”