Students clean college community for National Sustainability Day
Castleton State College students set out on the streets of Castleton Wednesday to make a difference for the environment – and for the school’s image.
In honor of the 10thAnnual National Sustainability Day, more than 80 students armed themselves with trash bags and work gloves and set out to clean up the streets.
During clean up, which took only roughly 45 minutes due to the huge turnout, the students and faculty involved discovered that the most trash stemmed from nights of drinking.
“We mostly found beer bottle and plastic,” said green intern, Jill Basset. “I mean, I’m really excited we had the chance to do this, but I can understand why we look bad to community as a school – even if it’s not everyone doing bad.
“It just looks really bad for everyone that what we found was mostly beer bottles and trash.”
In addition to beer bottles, cans and bits of cigarette packs, broken glass and Gatorade bottles were also prevalent.
“It was a great chance to get out there, but I don’t think this should be considered a once a year thing. We should be doing this on the regular so we can actually make a change,” said Tyler LaRose, another green intern.
In making this idea possible, sociology professor Paul Derby, who coordinates the Green Campus Initiative on campus, said in an email, “This is an excellent community service event and an opportunity to show that students care about the Castleton community.”
And although only three full bags were collected from Glenbrook, Seminary, and South streets, as well as North Road, the students involved seemed enthusiastic, and willing to participate.
After suggestion by student Nick Bruch in Professor Adam Chill’s FYS class, Dean Scott Dikeman is looking into coordinating with the greater Castleton community to provide receptacles along some of these pathways with hopes of reducing roadside trash.
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