About 55 volunteers gathered roughly 400 pounds of cans, caps, plastic bottles and bags from the Mameyes River in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, as part of the third edition of the program “Cuidando a Puerto Rico desde la Montaña hasta el Arrecife,” run by Kia Puerto Rico and the environmental organization Scuba Dogs Society. Volunteers, young people and adults from different parts of the island, took part in the educational and community-action initiative, which seeks to protect Puerto Rico’s aquatic systems.
Besides collecting waste, participants gathered scientific data to document the impact of trash accumulation on rivers and their mouths. According to the organizers, that information will help strengthen future initiatives to protect the island’s waters and ecosystems. Participants also received guidance on the importance of conserving rivers and reservoirs.
Scuba Dogs Society programs director Gabriel Pecunia Malavé said that everything that happens in the mountains has a direct effect on the coasts and rivers, and that the program’s education aims to turn the public into agents of change. Kia Puerto Rico commercial director Abiezer Rodríguez said the company will continue supporting the initiative, calling clean rivers and reservoirs a shared responsibility for the sake of the coasts.