Arizona tubing company bans marshmallows due to littering

By Elenee Dao

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    MESA, Arizona (KNXV) — If you’re heading out to the Salt River anytime soon, know that a sweet, sticky treat is no longer allowed. The owners of Salt River Tubing announced they are banning marshmallows as people float the river.

Despite the record-breaking, sweltering heat, Peter Hill, the lead supervisor for the recreational business said people are still coming out to float.

“People want to come out and get in that cool water. It’s 68 degrees. Float down the river,” Hill said.

However, as people hop on the buses to hit the river, staff are looking for prohibited glass containers as well as marshmallows.

“I know that a lot of people like to bring out marshmallows, and they like to throw it at people,” said Adam Gonzalez, who’s gone tubing at the Salt River before.

As partners with the U.S. Forest Service and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Hill said they’re trying to keep the river clean and said there’s been “an excess amount” recently.

“We want everybody to have a reasonably safe opportunity to go down the river, and to make sure our environment is clean and safe,” he said. “So, it was brought to our attention that we need to do something about that and bring that up and keep our customers and tubers from being cited for littering.”

If staff find the marshmallows, they’ll ask customers to either go put them back in their car or throw them out.

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