A group of more than 40 students, staff, and faculty from The Ohio State University at Mansfield met at Buckeye Village Apartments last week, armed with bags and gloves ready to take on the trash along a section of Lexington-Springmill road near the wooded area between the Mansfield campus and Walker Lake Road in Ontario.
Tammy Smith, programs coordinator in the office of student engagement, with the help of early childhood education major Joshua Davis organized the efforts for the clean up.
“I drive past this area every day,” Davis explained. “When we have visitors come to the campus, they don’t just look at our campus, they look at the community as well. We want to do our part to clean up the environment and help the area look better.”
Bryce Burgess, a criminology and criminal justice major, joined the effort. He said, “This will make a big impact. Obviously, we can’t get everything but at least we can help pick up things off the roadways, like plastic bags. Those can really harm the environment and its habitats.”
The wildlife is extremely important to the surrounding area including the Ohio State Mansfield campus’ 600-acre Ecolab.
Kuljit Kaur, a social work major, participated in the cleanup and hopes it will become an example for others to follow the same path. “We realized the need to clean up the environment. We are hoping to be an inspiration to others so they can do the same in their neighborhoods,” Kaur said.
Smith is very proud of all the volunteers who came out to help. “They braved thorns and wind to pick up that area,” she says, “How great it is to drive into campus following the clean up without seeing any trash!”
The city of Ontario provided the trash bags for the group, which were bagged then left for the city to pick up the next day.
As for keeping the area clean, Davis believes if the community comes together, they can continue to make a major impact. He says, “This is the first time we have done this around here. However, if we are able to get even more people to come together, maybe we can do this other places in the community as well.”
Source, Photos: The Ohio State University at Mansfield
