Participants in the 27th Annual Alabama Coastal Cleanup removed cups, cans and various car parts from area roads and waterways on Saturday.

The event is held annually to eliminate litter that drains into area waterways and pollutes the environment.

“It is important for us to clean up litter before it is carried to our waterways, where is pollutes our waters and is a danger to wildlife,” said Janet Wofford, facilitator for the Conecuh-Sepulga & Blackwater Clean Water Partnership.

There were a record number of Andalusia High School Key Club members who helped clean up more than 100 pounds of litter, Wofford said.

“This group of 70 (students) cleaned up along Bay Branch as well as the Kiwanis Club Adopt-a-Mile in front of the fairgrounds,” she said. “Over 100 pounds of litter was collected.”

AHS junior and Key Club president Charlie Brock said they picked up enough trash to fill up the bed of a pickup truck.

He said the organization had been volunteering around the Point A Lake area, but club members moved the cleanup to the small stream in front of the fairgrounds this year.

Some students were skeptical that cleaning up that far from a waterway would help with the initiative, he said.

“We explained to them that everything eventually leads to the Conecuh,” Brock said. “What happens here ends up affecting other ecosystems.”

Wofford extended a special thanks to the Andalusia Police Department and the City of Andalusia for providing safety support for these students.

Other participants cleaned up litter along C.C. Baker Avenue and the Andalusia Middle School, an area that drains into the Conecuh River, Wofford said.

The Conecuh/Sepulga Watershed Alliance from Brooklyn, cleaned up along the Sepulga River and has participated in the event for almost 20 years.

If interested in participating in the 2015 Alabama Coastal Cleanup, contact Janet Wofford at janetwofford@andycable.com or 334-488-4511.