TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Santa Cruz River saw a massive clean-up Saturday morning, with more than 50 volunteers helping to pick up trash.
The Sonoran Institute aims to restore the Santa Cruz River. In April, it was ranked as the fourth most endangered river in the country by American Rivers, a national organization focused on clean water and river health.
"A lot of people feel like they don’t have a lot of power or impact as individuals, but volunteering is one of the things that you can do to get out in the community and actually see yourself making a difference,” Sarah Sharp said, a student at the University of Arizona and one of the volunteers picking up trash.
“It just makes me feel better, I feel like I can just start the day off by doing something really positive for the environment. I just have a really positive mood for the rest of the day and I can feel like I have made an impact on the world," Briony Campisi said. She is also a student at the U of A.
Sharp and Campisi are part of an environmental organization at the U of A, Epsilon Eta. It started in 2022.
Stephanie Winick is also part of the organization and is part of the Earth Grant Program at the U of A.
"When we’re just a couple of us there’s only so much trash that we can pickup, but when there's hundreds of us the change that we can make is non-measurable," Winick said.
Team Up Clean Up is organized by the City of Tucson and other community partners and provided necessary equipment for Saturday's clean-up event. For upcoming volunteer opportunities, click here to register.
