Sunday, March 03, 2024
I went to the Santa Cruz River with a group to pick up trash. First we had a meeting where we talked about the history of the river and the De Anza trail. There were about a dozen folks, young and older (I am one of the older).
Tucson Wastewater is putting treated water into the river at this location. The vegetation is lush in the riparian area.
Tree tobacco.
Unfortunately, when it rains water carries trash from the washes that empty into the river. Unhoused people live in those washes and under bridges. The trash they discard is carried downstream and the vegetation in the riparian area catches it.
So much trash. I found:
- 4 syringes (luckily no needles)
- styrofoam, a lot of it from broken up Polar Cups
- cigarette butts
- food wrappers
- plastic bags
- three toys
- a coat
- lighters
- plastic silverware
- plastic bottles and aluminum cans
I filled up a big bag. I had brought a bucket and just sat on the ground and collected trash, then moved a few feet and collected more. It is important to do so because endangered fish and Sonoran mud turtles are in the riparian area and you don't want them ingesting plastic.
My collected trash.
In all, we recovered 17 huge bags worth of refuse.
17 bags.
I felt like a did some good today.
Garbage man Homer.
