It was a good day to pick up trash and KSC’s Eco-Reps made the most of it by going to Keene rail trails on Friday, Oct. 6. A group of 15-20 students walked from the student center down to the rails trails. The group was supplied with gloves, trashbags and plastic buckets to clean up a part of Keene’s campus.
“The rail trail is really beautiful when you walk down at the right time of year, I have definitely enjoyed it a lot since coming here and there is definitely times when it needs a little bit of help, a little bit of work, and that’s what we do here,” Leo Boisvert, the treasurer for Eco-Reps said.
It is not the first time the Eco-Reps have cleaned up KSC’s rail trail; with it being such a high traffic area, it ends up needing the extra attention. “It’s unfortunately a very polluted part of campus because it is so close to campus,” said Vice President Zachary Leno.
Alysha England, the Eco-Reps secretary explained, “There have been 20-30 bags of trash that we bring back because the Ashuelot rail trail is just notorious for having so much trash on it, whether it’s just anyone in the community they might just litter unknowingly thinking that it might not affect anything, but when we come through we find so much that just doesn’t get composted, doesn’t break down, so it’s just a good thing that we’re cleaning up everything and picking up what we can find because otherwise then who knows what animal or person might come across it; what children might get hurt from like a needle in the ground. It’s overall a good thing that we’re doing.”
Eco-Reps is a student-run organization and participates in multiple cleanup projects during the semester. The week before they went out and cleaned the Ashuelot River Park. Leno said, “Our main focus is to just create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly campus where students are engaged with groundwork so either cleanups, education, tabling events, anything to get out into the community and help clean up.”
Leno said he enjoys being apart of the Eco-Reps because, “They say find something where you enjoy work because then you never really work a day in your life and I feel that with this club. Every day I’m part of it, everyday I’m going out and doing something, makes me feel good, and it helps the planet, so it’s a win-win.”
Jason Mowbray, a sophomore who was participating in the cleanup said, “Cleaning up the campus, making it look more pretty is really nice; a lot of people disrespect the campus so it’s nice that we’re able to get out here and help out.”
The club is open to anyone, said Leno. “We’re all inclusive, so any major, noncommittal, you can show up to one meeting, you can show up to every meeting every year.”
England stated the reason why she enjoyed being apart of the club was, “Because of the whole climate situation, doing what you can now is just very important. Any little impact, no matter how big or small it is, is just one more step towards a healthier climate and healthier ecosystem for everyone involved because we are a part of the planet as well, and if you’re not trying to help yourself even in the grand scheme of things, even by picking up a piece of trash, then what really are you doing?”
Boisvert explained that even though it was his second official clean up, the act of picking up trash was something he tried to take apart of in his daily life. “Every time I go to the beach I try to pick up a can; it’s a mindset more than an event basis I think,” he said.
Eco-Reps holds their meetings every Friday in the Young Student Center room 126 from 2 – 3 p.m.
Molly Lu McKellar can be contacted
