South Platte River Cleanup Aims To Beautify Waterway
DENVER (CBS4)- You can't go much more than a few yards along the South Platte River without seeing trash. In the water and along the riverbanks you'll find everything from plastic bottles to shopping carts.
"There's a lot of disgusting things you find," said Dean Ronzoni, Director of corporate development for Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.
Ronzoni says the pollution along the Platte hits the environment hard on a number of fronts.
"There's effects to all different forms of the environment. From the habitat that's here to the animals that are living and creating this as their home," he told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.
This weekend Leave No Trace is organizing a huge cleanup effort of the river. It will be on Saturday, Oct. 27 and will cover an 11-mile stretch of the South Platte, starting near Confluence Park.
We're going to be inviting anyone who wants to come and get their hands dirty. Help us out and make this place a little bit better than it was," said Ronzoni.
This is the second time his organization has hosted the event. Last time they picked up hundreds of pounds of trash in just a few hours. Ronzoni says if you can't make it, think about the difference you can make on your own time. Maybe that means picking up a piece of trash or two whenever you're enjoying all the Platte has to offer.
"It does make a difference. If you're commuting on your bike to work and you find a couple of pieces of trash and pick them up it certainly makes a difference."
Volunteers will meet Sat., Oct. 27 at the Downtown Aquarium at 3 p.m. The event will last until 5 p.m. and afterwards volunteers will be treated to a party with free food and beer.
Dominic Garcia anchors CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and reports for CBS4 News at 10 p.m. Connect with the Denver native on Twitter @cbs4dom & on Facebook.