Volunteers in the back of a pickup truck sit atop bags filled with plastic bottles that they have picked up on July 8. The Green River organization, a non-government organization focusing on environmental protection, began to organize voluntary trash cleanups and other anti-pollution activities in 2017.

Volunteers pick up garbage along the Qinghai-Tibet section of the China National Highway 109. Photo: Hao Wenhui

Volunteers sort through plastic bottles for recycling at the Kunlun Spring “Green Station” in Qinghai province. These stations are recycling collection points operated by Green River. Photo: Hao Wenhui

Volunteers sort plastic bottles at Yangtze River “Green Station.” Photo: Hao Wenhui

Volunteers pick up trash by a lake in Golmud city. Photo: Hao Wenhui

A whole case of empty beer bottles lie discarded by the lake. Photo: Hao Wenhui

Volunteers tidy up the recyclable waste bags at one of the “green stations” in Qinghai province. Photo: Hao Wenhui

A volunteer hangs up the recycle bags after they’ve been washed at Golmud “green station.” Photo: Hao Wenhui

A bird flies over a landfill in the Tanggulashan district in Golmud city. Photo: Hao Wenhui

Volunteers hold up signs to promote environmental protection on a train platform in Qinghai province on July 19. Photo: Hao Wenhui