Armed with buckets, long-handled nets and other tools for cleaning up messes, more than a dozen volunteers honored Earth Day on Saturday by spending their morning in Long Beach collecting litter along the trail at the Dominguez Gap Wetlands.

Lisette Solis, who lives in the area and owns an eco-friendly small business, put out a call on social media for volunteers to come and help clean up the wetlands, and to document dumped furniture and other large items and ask the city to remove them.

“This is a natural resource that I feel is being overlooked,” she said, noting that wetlands are sometimes described as “earth’s kidneys” because they clean and filter the water that flows through them.

To make the cleanup more interesting, Solis worked with Melody Chan, a local artist who brought in other creators to put together an augmented reality experience along the wetland trail. Using a smartphone app, people at the cleanup could hold up their phones in designated spots to view virtual paintings and photos with the wetlands as a backdrop.

Among the volunteers was Carol Bartels, who collected enough litter to fill a large blue IKEA tote bag. She was glad people were cleaning up at Dominguez Gap, but she said the wetlands at DeForest Park, a little farther north along the Los Angeles River, could also use some love.

Bartels often helps with open space cleanups, but it was especially important to her to do it on Earth Day, she said.

“I think it’s important that people see that people care and show up,” she said.