'We Found 4 Lime Scooters': Volunteers Clean Up South Platte River
DENVER (CBS4) - Volunteers spent Sunday morning cleaning up the South Platte in Denver for the last time this season.
"I just think it's crazy how some of this stuff gets in the water," said youth volunteer Zach Lugenbill.
This is Zach's second time volunteering to pick up trash from the river at Confluence Park.
"We found a frying pan in the middle of the river. Last time we found four Lime scooters, like the electric ones and some credit cards," he said.
Zach says he does it to help preserve the water he loves.
"Water is the key to life, and without it we wouldn't be able to live, so I think it's important to keep it clean."
Environment Colorado helped organize the monthly cleanup.
"We pulled out over 400 lbs. of plastic last month, a lot of that was Styrofoam which is a toxic plastic," said Hannah Collazo, State Director of Environment Colorado. "This plastic breaks down into really tiny pieces called microplastics, and it gets in our drinking water, and it gets into our food sources, and it really is a threat to our health."
Keeping plastic and other trash from getting in the river in the first place is a good place to start, but when it's there, lending a hand to clean up makes a difference, too.
"It's easy, it doesn't take too much time to go do it, and it immediately helps everybody, because the second you take the trash out it makes it instantly cleaner," said Zach.
For more information about these cleanups you can visit https://environmentcolorado.org/
