Santa Cruz County Shining AZ

04/23/2026

ARRIBA! ARRUBA! ARRIBA!!!!!!!!!!! Mr. Trashcan Man made a sign for our Earth Day celebration this Saturday. Get ready, let's make Santa Cruz County Shine and Shine very clean. We'll have fun toooooooooo.

04/21/2026

Hola Mis Residentes Más Estimados,

A word from our Jessy, our founder............................

As I traveled along the I-19 and the Frontage Roads, I was amazed by the renewed beauty of the landscape. The significant reduction in trash and litter has greatly improved the visual appeal of our community. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to this shared mission. Through our continued efforts, we are making real progress, working together to enhance and preserve the environment that we call home.

Thanks to the support of many who joined me in writing to ADOT, our governor, and our state representatives about cleaning up the I-19. We are seeing positive results. The highway now looks clean and inviting, free from the overwhelming trash, overgrown vegetation, and dead animals that previously marred our view.

The improvement in our environment is the direct result of countless individual actions. For example, ADOT now regularly cleans the on and off ramps at Pendelton, a notorious dumping site, thanks to one person's persistent petitioning.

A dedicated couple has spent years picking up trash from their neighborhood street to Pendelton and Palo Parado. Their advocacy led the county to install “No Littering” signs. They recently shared with me that littering in this area has dropped significantly.

An increasing number of residents are joining those who have been picking up trash for years, taking responsibility for the ongoing cleanup of their neighborhood roads as they walk.

Schoolteachers are encouraging students to organize neighborhood cleanups, and merchants are taking greater care to maintain the appearance of their storefronts. Participation in the annual Santa Cruz River Cleanups continues to grow, and our District Supervisors are offering valuable support for all these initiatives.

Generational indifference, a lack of awareness, and inadequate education about proper trash disposal contributed to the trash crisis in our community. Our efforts are making a substantial difference in the aesthetics of our surroundings and in protecting the fragile ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert.

Please share your experiences and comments about your cleanup efforts. Although there is still much work ahead, let’s stay committed, we will continue to achieve more and more.

😸Thank you and please join us in celebrating Earth Day. 😺

04/08/2026

Arriba! My fellow and most esteemed Residents. Let us give out a grand Grito for el Día Internacional de la Madre Tierra. Ah, that is Earth Day. We are having our very own "Shining Earth Day" right here in Santa Cruz County Arizona. Arriba! Arriba. So easy to participate. Clean up your street or be a Sign Spinner. Muy cool. See the volante below. (I wanna be a persona del letrero). Si! Vamos

02/20/2026

Take a look at we did! Please tell everyone you know to "Use the Can." Yo uso el bote!

02/17/2026

02/17/2026

02/14/2026

02/14/2026

Arriba, my fellow residents. Mr. Trashcan Man has the word of the year – Microplastics.

But first, the three-fourths mile of the river we cleaned is known as Potrero Creek. It is a tributary of the Santa Cruz River, but because its flow is not continuous and smaller than the normal flow of a tributary it is referred to as a creek.

It is also known as the Lower Nogales Wash because the water flow originates in Mexico and then washes downstream into Potrero Creek which then washes into the Santa Cruz River.
Many volunteers said to me “there’s a lot of plastic down there. “The plastic falls apart in my hand.” “The trash is wrapped around trees in the river under layers of broken branches and more plastic trash.”

Well, I, Mr. Trashcan Man, sneaked on the computer (teehee) and found that decomposing plastic is a pollutant known as microplastics. Some microplastics are referred to as secondary microplastics because they come from stuff like water bottles, grocery bags, or any type of plastic. Eventually plastic breaks down into tiny molecules. Those tiny molecules aka microplastics are a source of pollution that ends up in water bodies everywhere in the world. Microplastics harm marine life, river water mammals, and birds’ drink. And guess what? Microplastics are bad for you too. I am immune because I am a trashcan.
My most esteemed fellow residents, there is only one solution. Here it is. “Hey Compas, Use the Can.” Si, before we, the animals, fish, and birds turn into biologically diverse mutations of ourselves.
Photo credit Wendy Islas

02/14/2026

ore plastic trash.”
Well, I, Mr. Trashcan Man, sneaked on the computer (teehee) and found that decomposing plastic is a pollutant known as microplastics. Some microplastics are referred to as secondary microplastics because they come from stuff like water bottles, grocery bags, or any type of plastic. Eventually plastic breaks down into tiny molecules. Those tiny molecules aka microplastics are a source of pollution that ends up in water bodies everywhere in the world. Microplastics harm marine life, river water mammals, and birds’ drink. And guess what? Microplastics are bad for you too. I am immune because I am a trashcan.
My most esteemed fellow residents, there is only one solution. Here it is. “Hey Compas, Use the Can.” Si, before we, the animals, fish, and birds turn into biologically diverse mutations of ourselves. Si. Photo credit Wendy Islas.