Never let it be said the purple and black won't go green. Some Baltimore Ravens plan to tackle trash - and not just talk it - along the Gwynns Falls Trail on Earth Day Thursday.

Members and staff of the city's pro football team will be among about 100 volunteers expected to take part in landscaping, tree removal and other cleanup activities along the trail. 

The trail runs 15 miles along the stream of the same name through West and Southwest Baltimore before emptying into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River within sight of M&T Bank Stadium, where the Ravens play.  Some volunteers will board canoes to remove litter from a lake along the trail. The bank, a partner in the cleanup, will contribute about 50 volunteers to the effort.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, flexing her own green commitment, is expected to join the volunteers.  The trail blitz is being coordinated by the nonprofit Parks & People Foundation.

(Cyclists ride Gwynns Falls Trail tunnel under Carrollton Viaduct; 2008 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)