SAGINAW, MI — DeShawn Hayes is an advocate for recycling and cleaning up Saginaw’s scenery.

“If you see trash on the side of the road, pick it up,” is the message Hayes wants to instill in residents.

Hayes, along with several dozen volunteers and other organizers, cleaned a lot on North Michigan Avenue between Genesee and Davenport Wednesday morning, March 20. Yeager Asphalt handled the trash that was collected at the site.

“I’m trying to clean up all of Saginaw, but I can’t do it myself,” Hayes said. “But I can rally the people.”

Hayes created #SPOTitSNAGit and hopes it inspires a movement of young litter eliminators.

Hayes is not alone on his mission to create a cleaner Saginaw. Joshua Allen and Arturo Lopez created Project Saginaw: Clean Heart and Clean Town.

Both men volunteered at the cleanup.

“This is my home and I don’t like looking at this stuff,” Allen said. “I want to do my part to take care of what’s mine.”

Lopez, 28, was born and raised in Mexico until he moved to the U.S. in high school.

“Saginaw made me,” Lopez said. “I love my city.”

Lopez said that once the snow melted, he began seeing all the trash that it once covered.

“I talked to Josh (Allen) and said we got to do something,” Lopez said.

Justin Boyce takes the portion of Interstate 675 near the cleanup site to work daily and said he sees the littered lot during his commute.

“It’s a shame to see it dirty,” Boyce said. “All it takes is if you see it, pick it up. It’s going to make a difference, especially if everyone does it.”

Hayes co-starred in a short film called “Plastic Movie,” about a woman with a will to create a recycling solution within northeast Detroit. The film will be released on YouTube on April 1.

The film was written and directed by Saginaw native Jeff Wegner, who attended high school with Hayes.

Wegner describes the film as a “tragically empowering narrative about overcoming Detroit's pollution epidemic.”

Hayes stars as the main character’s older brother.

Hayes said that he hopes his passion grows on others around the city and county of Saginaw.

“I’m tired of hearing that Saginaw and the people don’t care,” Hayes said.

On Saturday, March 23, Hayes, Allen and Lopez will meet on North Michigan at a parking lot across from El Rancho Grande restaurant about a half hour before the next cleanup that is planned from 1-3 p.m. that day.

“We want to encourage everyone to clean the community,” Hayes said.