Saltus students returned to John Smith’s Bay on Saturday, but not for fun in the sun.

Since September 2012, the students have carried out a clean-up at the popular South Shore beach twice a year. This year, they collected a combined total of 33 bags of trash and 18 bags of recyclables, along with a handful of bulky items.

The students, however, weren’t only ones to come out to help clean up the island with a large number of volunteers stepping forward across the island for Earth Day.

Ann Hyde, executive director for Keep Bermuda Beautiful, said: “Over the years, the Saltus school family has cleared hundreds of pounds of debris off the beach that has washed in with storms and tides. Most of the debris found is made from plastic and might show bite marks from fish or turtles, mistaking it for food.”

Noting other clean-up efforts, Ms Hyde said: “There was a large group of KBB volunteers at Mangrove Bay beach in Somerset as the first wave of work planned for the proposed improvements by Government and the Somerset EEZ.”

Some of the America’s Cup teams joined the effort, including Land Rover BAR at Admiralty Cove, Groupma Team France at Southlands and Artimis Team members who assisted at Mangrove Bay.

Meanwhile, Endeavour America’s Cup (Youth) West collected trash at Parson’s Bay in Dockyard and Endeavour America’s Cup (Youth) East tackled waste at Builder’s Bay in St George’s.