Between the tall grasses and rocks of the scenic South Platte River’s banks lies a problem: tens of thousands of pounds of manmade waste ranging from cigarette butts and soda cans to car tires and discarded weapons. 

Beneath the familiar brick of Denver outdoor icon REI, local non-profit Protect Our Rivers has helped pull more than 10,000 lbs. of trash this year alone, primarily focusing on a small section of the waterway stretching from the Cherry Creek tributary to Denver Skatepark, totaling less than a mile.

On Thursday, the group pulled another 500-plus lbs. out from the river with volunteers from local businesses. 

“Rivers are a valuable part of our lives and communities… [These cleanups] not only help recreation use but can help sustain marine life,” volunteer coordinator Chase Nelson said. 

The group — founded in 2021 by Nelson’s wife, Sarah, a Colorado native and University of Colorado Boulder grad — has now spread its cleanup efforts throughout the West. Recent cleanups have included the local Sloan’s Lake and the Poudre River, but branched as  far south as the Animas River in New Mexico and north to Wyoming. Plans for similar endeavors in Florida, Arizona and, of course, locally are already on the books. 

While Protect Our Rivers is doing more than its fair share to restore waterways regionally, the national picture in the United States is more troubling.

In 2021, researchers from the National Academies of Sciences estimated that between 1.13 million to 2.24 million metric tons of U.S. made plastic waste finds its way into the environment every year, totaling around half the weight of fish caught in oceans annually worldwide. 

The next South Platte cleanup is on July 10; there will be a Sloans Lake cleanup in July 19. 

Learn more about Protect Our Rivers and its mission, here.