By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Nearly 40 volunteers picked up trash in and around the San Felipe Creek on Saturday, part of a statewide cleanup movement to clean up Texas waterways.
The local volunteers’ efforts contributed to the statewide Trash
in the San Felipe Creek near Gillis Avenue. Volunteers who picked up trash in and around the
creek on Saturday were part of a statewide cleanup movement to collect data for the Texas Liter
Database, created by Keep Texas Beautiful to study areas near Texas waterways and find
solutions to prevent litter and pollution. (Photo by Louis Zylka)
Free Gulf campaign, whose
initiative is to motivate communities to protect and preserve their waterways and raise
awareness about preventing pollution in the Gulf of Mexico. The campaign was created in
collaboration with the Gulf Trust and H-E-B’s “Our Texas, Our Future” environmental program.
The local San Felipe Creek cleanup was spearheaded by the Devils River Conservancy, a community of activists dedicated to protecting the Devils River, and by the San Felipe Creek
Coalition, a group made up of local activists with an interest in regional water issues. The collaboration was created to join in the efforts of the statewide campaign.
trash found near Magnolia Park in the San Felipe area. Dani Miller, communications and
engagement manager for the Devil Rivers Conservancy, said the goal of the cleanup was to
“spread out (as many volunteers) as possible and get someone at all the targeted locations to
get the best coverage for getting the most litter.” (Photo By Louis Zylka)
Trash Free Gulf provided cleanup tools and gifts, including tote bags, YETI tumblers and
coloring books for the volunteers who took part in the event.
Seven groups then dispersed to
pick up trash in several areas in the San Felipe area, including Magnolia Park, Rotary Park and Moore Park.
Rene Rios, a member of the San Felipe Creek Coalition, led a group of volunteers who used
kayaks on the San Felipe Creek to pick up trash in the water. He said they used kayaks provided by the Texas Park and Wildlife Department, adding that the small boats are “designated for (use at) the San Felipe Creek.”
The groups began and ended their efforts at the Casa De La Cultura, where they returned around noon with bags of trash to be measured and sampled. Dani Miller, communications and
engagement manager for the Devil Rivers Conservancy, spoke with The 830 Times later in the day to give an update on the cleanup, and she said a member of the Rio Bravo Disposal crew
weighed 1,000 pounds of trash picked up by the volunteer groups. Eight H-E-B shopping carts were also collected and picked up by the local H-E-B facilities.
Miller spoke with The 830 Times earlier in the day to give more details about the event. She said the statewide cleanup events help with providing information to the Texas Litter Database,
which is a community science project run by Keep Texas Beautiful, a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower Texans to keep their communities clean and beautiful. She said
the database can be accessed by anyone who wants to learn more about the types of trash found in different areas of the state.
Lupita De La Paz, executive director of the Casa De La Cultura, was in attendance, representing the Casa De La Cultura and the San Felipe Creek Coalition. De La Paz spoke with The 830 Times to express the importance of Saturday’s event and the collaboration between the organizations involved.
Conservancy, gives details and instructions to volunteers who attended a local cleanup event
targeting the San Felipe Creek at the Casa De La Cultura Saturday. The local event was one of
40 similar cleanups held statewide being held throughout May, part of the Trash Free Gulf
campaign aimed at keeping Texas waterways clean. (Photo by Louis Zylka)
“You can’t help your community until you help your neighborhood first. The river’s backyards
have always been dear to our hearts, and we make sure to educate people to clean up. We’ve been (educating people) for so long, so it’s nice to see this next generation showing that this is a
never-ending job,” De La Paz said. “Any kind of help from any type of organization will make a
difference.”
