Approximately 1,620 pounds of trash collected around campus was hauled to the Student Services Lawn Thursday by ASU Clean and Beautiful as a reminder to students of the amount of trash produced on campus everyday and the importance of recycling.
About 38 students, faculty and staff participated in the campus cleanup day.
Collection sites were located on the Student Services Lawn, between Palm Walk and Tyler Mall, near the fountains at the Business College and the Memorial Union and between Orange Mall and Forest Mall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"It's a way that we can let our grounds crew and maintenance staff know that we care about campus and are willing to do our part to keep it that way," LeeOvermyer, administrative services assistant vice Provost said.
In past years ASU Clean and Beautiful has placed the trash collected at Palm Walk and Tyler Mall, Forest and Tyler Mall, the north crosswalk near Manzanita and at McAllister Avnue. and Apache Boulevard.
Since its formation in 1998 ASU Clean and Beautiful has sponsored a campus cleanup day each semester for the past two years. Their goal is to study how the building and grounds on campus could benefit through litter control.
Campus cleanup day is co-sponsored by the Associated Students of ASU and the Office of the Vice Provost for Administrative Services.
"It's a wonderful way for our community (students, staff and faculty) to help us make a difference in our environment," Overmyer said.
A majority of the 135 bags collected by volunteers contained newspapers, cups, beverage containers and food wrappers.
"The bulk of it (trash) was recyclable if it could have been separated," Mike Buschbacher, ASU landscape planning coordinator said.
Trash left behind in classrooms was also a problem.
"When I was a student here, frequently I would go to class and you would hear someone knock over a drink, or a can would go rolling down the hallway," Buschbacher said. "Not only is it disruptive, but it also translates to someone having to clean it up."
He urged students to throw away beverage containers and food wrappers brought into class.
"If people take more time to stop and pick up the areas around them before they left the classrooms there would be less trash and it would take less time to clean up," Buschbacher said.
Reach Christina Higdon at grimm119@aol.com.
