The University of Connecticut’s Office of Sustainability and the town of Mansfield collaborated to host a garbage clean up event on Nov. 16 which had about 140 volunteers.
The event was organized by the Town-University relations committee and there were eight stations to get trash bags.
UConn alumnus and Americorps member Anna Parker spoke about the impact of the event.
“We had 140 volunteers from […] club sports, fraternities, sororities, Eco Husky and we cleaned up 116 lawn sized bags of litter, probably more,” Parker said.
Interim Director of the Office of Sustainability Patrick McKee discussed planning for the clean-up.
“It really kind of started in the summertime,” McKee said. “Nathan Fuerst [Vice President of Student Life and Enrollment] approached our office through his role on the town committee who had mentioned that there were a number of litter issues that were brought to his attention through the committee.”
McKee spoke about a meeting with the mayor and plans to clean up litter.
“We had met with the mayor and other representatives a couple of times over the summer to really talk about ways that we can help prevent litter and then also clean up existing litter on the most problematic areas adjacent to campus,” McKee said. “So, some of those locations were Lodge Road, North Eagleville Road, Separatist Road.”
Mansfield Mayor Toni Moran spoke about the clean-up in a press release.
“We are eager to have all of these Mansfield residents tackle roadside litter before the snow flies,” Moran said. “Everyone wants a clean environment to live in, and to be sure litter doesn’t get into our streams or hurt wildlife. This is a great opportunity for collaboration between our University partners and our residents.”
Everyone wants a clean environment to live in, and to be sure litter doesn’t get into our streams or hurt wildlife.
Toni Moran, Mayor of Mansfield
McKee said he found the extent of the litter disheartening.
“Litter is preventable and while it was impactful to see just how much litter we were able to clean up with our 140 volunteers, it was also disheartening because of the fact that it was there in the first place,” McKee said.
Fuerst spoke about the partnership in a press release.
“UConn is very excited to partner with the Town of Mansfield, town residents, and our students to improve upon litter throughout the town,” Fuerst said. “It is also a great opportunity to build community between town residents and UConn students, faculty, and staff.”
According to Parker, the cleanup station at Wings Over Storrs had the most litter. McKee said that garbage that they cleaned up was mostly cans, bottles and wrappers.
“There were places that we couldn’t even get to with volunteers that were just too difficult. Like down in ravines that were just not safe to venture down, but there’s water there so ultimately, things that end up in our water continue to move downstream until they get to rivers, lakes and oceans,” McKee said. “So that’s an important part of this as well, to prevent the contamination and pollution of our waterways, not just the lawns of people in the community and the woods.”
Future sustainability efforts will include an Earth Day Spring Fling in April and a green careers panel in February, according to McKee.