Keep Austin Beautiful will hold its fifth annual post-holiday cleanup Saturday, during which over 200 volunteers will clear holiday decorations off mountain cedar trees along Loop 360. The cleanup will take place from 9-11 a.m., and volunteers will gather at Canyon Springs Apartments parking lot, 7700 N. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin.

“Removing left-over decorations is a priority for Keep Austin Beautiful due to the concern for the surrounding environment,” event and marketing manager Myrriah Gossett said in a news release. “The festive accessories pose a potential threat to the local watersheds as the items come loose and wash into nearby creeks and wildlife may also mistake the ornaments for food.”

In order to gather an accurate estimate of the cleaning supplies that will be needed, Keep Austin Beautiful encourages interested volunteers to register online at www.keepaustinbeautiful.org. However, those who do not register can still participate in the event if they sign a liability waiver Saturday morning, Gossett said.

Keep Austin Beautiful collected over 130 bags of trash at last year’s cleanup, and salvaged 30 bags of reusable decorations, she said.

“It’s not about what was on the tree, it is what has fallen off or what remains,” Executive Director Rodney Ahart said in the release. “We as Austinites have an obligation to restore the environment to its natural state avoiding any harmful effects to wildlife or the nearby creeks.”