SAN ANTONIO – The memories of Easter 2025 may linger for many, but the mess from Easter weekend camping in San Antonio’s parks has been cleared away.
Crews with the City of San Antonio’s Parks and Recreation department, along with dozens of volunteers, tackled mounds of trash early Monday morning.
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City workers in Brackenridge Park were seen hauling away large bags of garbage, as well as stray pieces of furniture and tents from the makeshift campsites.
Volunteers, meanwhile, initially gathered around a table for instruction.
“If you see any needles or any drug paraphernalia, don’t touch it,’ said Erin Quintanilla. “If you need anything, I’ll be right here.”
Quintanilla is part of the Brackenridge Park Conservancy, the nonprofit agency that coordinated the volunteer effort known as the “Cascarone Cleanup.”
She said the volunteers focused on the smaller details, items the city crews may not have been able to pick up right away.
“Something that could be choked on, something that could go unseen and float into our rivers, and it can become toxic for the animals,” Quintanilla said. “(City crews) will do a sweep later in the week where they’ll be picking up individual trash, but we don’t want it to have to sit for that long.”
Emily Hogue understood the assignment right away. This was her second year as a volunteer to clean up the park.
“Some of the confetti, we’re able to leave. It’s biodegradable, the paper, as well as the eggshells,” Hogue explained. “But (we pick up) any of the little plastic Easter grass that tends to be in the Easter baskets, water bottles, candy wrappers.”
Hogue said she participated because “it’s nice to give back.”
However, she also realized the purpose it serves in protecting the environment.
Quintanilla said microplastics in the trash could impact more than just the animals that live there.
“Everything in this park that goes into the water, it goes downstream,” Quintanilla said. “And it affects everyone else.”
Thanks to the work of some people, though, all will benefit.
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