Volunteers have removed 2 million pounds of trash from Sacramento rivers

SACRAMENTO — Nature areas across the Sacramento region continue to be impacted by the homeless crisis with trash and other discarded items piling up in local waterways.

One local volunteer group has been pounding away at the problem and making a big difference.

David Ingram co-founded the River City Waterway Alliance in January 2023. It's a team of volunteers that haul away garbage in Sacramento creeks and rivers.

As of this week, they've now collected two million pounds of trash.

"We take a trashed section of creek and we transform it into a beautiful riparian habitat, and we see the wildlife coming back," Ingram said.

To put two million pounds into perspective, that's more than the combined weight of 150 male African elephants. Every abandoned shopping cart and every tire tossed away really adds up.

"It's gratifying to know that's what we're doing but then on the flipside, it's sad to know that's what we're doing," said Lisa Sanchez, co-founder of River City Waterway Alliance . "We feel like we need to do that."

So what's the item that put them over the two million mark?

"It's probably about an 800 pound wet soggy mattress that we pulled out yesterday," Ingram said.

Ingram added that the weight of this accomplishment highlights just how much trash is washed down our waterways—much of it left behind by homeless encampments.

"The disappointing part of that is as soon as we clean an area, we go back a few weeks later and it's almost inevitably trashed again," he said.

Ingram said they'll keep coming back in a bid to keep these nature areas clean.

"The hard work and effort is so rewarding at the end because we have an instant result," he said.

The group has about 50 regular volunteers.

"If you like getting dirty, come on out," Sanchez said. "We've got a job for you."