St. Thomas’ Sustainability Club and French Club joined forces to pick up trash Saturday, Oct. 23 on the shorelines of the Mississippi River during the 28th annual River Clean-Up.
Volunteers walked along Mississippi River Boulevard in groups with yellow trash bags and gloves provided by the Tommies Together Volunteer Center and the Adopt-a-River program; in two hours, they covered a 2.6 mile area between the Lake Street and Ford Parkway bridges and collected enough bags to fill the bed of a pickup truck.
Attendee and Vice President of the Sustainability Club Ariana Porcello was able to see firsthand the trash collected and the pileup of bags at the end.
“Totals for trash collected at the river clean up were twenty-seven bags and two-hundred and ninety-seven pounds,” Porcello said.
Around 25 people attended the clean-up with smiles despite having to bundle up in hats and jackets to brave the chilly weather. Paul Hietpas, the Sustainability Club’s staff adviser, joined the cause.
“I went down to the river with two student workers in our recycling department,” Hietpas said. “We couldn’t find a lot of trash, which is a good problem to have.”
Students from clubs and learning communities scoured the trails for any litter they could find. First-year students Hayden Ehrisman and Elise Burton were among those scaling the slopes near the Mississippi.
“It makes me feel good that I’m helping the earth,” Ehrisman said.
Burton mentioned that the beauty of nature and the weather added an exciting element.
“We hadn’t come to the river yet so we wanted to see it,” Burton said, “especially with the fall colors.”
Helping the earth was among many reasons students chose to devote their time. Another issue that was brought up was the fact that trash keeps reappearing even after volunteers do the hard work of cleaning up.
Josh Mounsey, the Sustainability Club’s President, believes it should be everyone’s responsibility to keep this space clean.
“If it’s just our business, then other people come down to the river and throw trash on the ground,” Mounsey said. “Everyone needs to play their part in this environmental catastrophe.”
Mounsey believes the recipe to engaging in sustainable initiatives is within oneself.
“I don’t think there should be incentives to be a sustainable person,” Mounsey said. “You should already anchor within that mentality in your life.”
There will be a bi-annual element to the river clean-up event happening in the spring. Hietpas noted that springtime events typically have better turn-out, but he stressed the importance of continual sustainability efforts.
“I think it’s about visibility for our community and service,” Hietpas said. “It’s good to represent our university as a sustainable place, willing to go that extra mile to clean up our community and work together for the common good.”
Jonathan Rosario can be reached at Rosa8273@stthomas.edu
Nate Schneiderhan contributed to this report.