Reducing Growth of Plastic Pollution

By Katrina Jesusa Nazareno
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

Elvira Chi and Catherine Ly collaborated on their senior project to reduce plastic pollution.

Chi and Ly worked with the American River Parkway Foundation to lead river clean up events. The foundation is a Sacramento 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that aims to lead the community to maintain a clean and accessible river parkway for everyone to enjoy.

Thirteen students including Chi and Ly volunteered last Sept. 21, Nov. 16, and Jan. 18 to pick up trash along the American River. They cleaned up two different locations within the American River Parkway including Discovery Park and Sutter’s Landing Regional Park.

“We collected about 20 trash bags of litter along the parkway from the three events. The items we found the most were single use bags and bottles, beer bottles, spray paint cans, cigarette butts, and clothes,” said Chi.

Chi and Ly encourage students to stay tuned on their Instagram page for future updates.

“The American River Parkway Foundation hosts a huge yearly event to clean up the American River,” said Chi.

The organization is hosting another clean up event in more than 20 locations across the American River Parkway this year, so save the date for September 20, 2025.

Chi and Ly will be present at Academic Planning Night this Feb. 20 and Craft Fair event at NP3 High this Mar. 1 with an information booth about the cleanups and the American River Parkway Foundation. The two seniors have also set up a fundraiser to help the renovation of picnic benches along the river parkway to be more accessible for everyone.

Here is the link to the fundraiser website.