After just a couple hours of cleaning, they left a pile of rubbish on the street corner: three shopping carts, a 4-by-8-foot piece of trellis material, a plastic garbage can, and bags filled with glass and paper trash.

It was all the more meaningful yesterday as it was the 35th anniversary of Earth Day, the movement created to raise awareness about protecting the Earth. Yesterday teachers, governments, nonprofit groups and the public worldwide organized beach cleanups, forums, meetings and marches to draw attention to the issues of poverty, pollution and chronic diseases.

In Hawai'i, the Ala Wai Watershed Association organized a half-day cleanup of streams at Kaimuki High School, Manoa, Palolo and Makiki, and restocked fish between the Natatorium and the Waikiki Aquarium.

The watershed, covering 15 square miles of densely populated areas, has a ring of streams that flow into the ocean. The watershed association was formed to develop community-based stewardship to improve water quality, said Sharon Miyashiro, a University of Hawai'i-Manoa faculty member with the urban and regional planning department and an organizer of the Makiki Stream Stewards group.

In addition to cleaning the stream, crews worked on stenciling warnings on storm drains, and planted a garden in front of the Jack in the Box restaurant on King Street and Kalakaua Avenue to keep run-off from flowing into the stream.

At Makiki Stream, ropes hung over the railing fronting Kalakaua Avenue. In all, about 100 students and adults — including people from Washington Middle School and McKinley High School, and the Boys and Girls Club; Drug Court clients; senior citizens from a nearby home; and a team of AmericaCorps workers — worked for several hours to pick up trash, paint storm drain warnings and rid the stream of litter and seaweed.

"It's important to clean the stream because it all goes to the ocean," Miyashiro said. "It wasn't always dirty. People say that they used to be able to swim in the stream. Now we're worried about leptospirosis."

Students have seen results for their efforts in the past two years of quarterly stream cleanups, Miyashiro said. There are now fish in Makiki Stream; previously there were only knee-high weeds.

Tom Shek, 14, a ninth-grader from McKinley High School, was working in the stream, stepping gingerly over rocks covered in algae. His science teacher was offering extra credit to any student who came out to help, Shek said.

"I feel great about helping," Shek said. "It's dirty work. But I'm preserving the species. It's a good feeling to help."

He removed cigarette butts, leaves, branches, a hose and a rubber slipper.

Antoyne Evans, 13, a Washington Middle School eighth-grader, said this was his second time helping to clean the stream.

"I knew they needed help," Evans said. "Besides, I had nothing nothing better to do today."

Washington Middle School science teacher Scott Brown said he lures the kids with the extra credit offers, but while they're there cleaning, he hopes that they will learn the value of improving the community where they live.

"We're all connected; it is a circle of life," Brown said. "We have to work together to keep our part of the environment clean. I feel I have accomplished something if they come out again and volunteer on their own."