10 Keene State students pulled on their thick rubbery gloves and grabbed blue reusable bags before heading out to pick up trash around campus the day after Halloween.
“If you see a needle, don’t pick it up,” said senior Eco-Reps President Chloe March.
Eco-Reps and Community Service Club collaborated for a trash cleanup on November 1, meeting outside the L.P. Young Student Center at 2 p.m. This is one of many trash cleanups hosted by Eco-Reps throughout the year, and the first time the two clubs worked together.
March said, “I thought it’d be a natural collaboration as this is a service-based project that’s really good for the environment. It’s kind of a community-building event, so I think it was a great way to work together and expose our members to other clubs.”
After congregating near a bench and distributing cleanup materials, the group walked to the bridge connecting to Winchester Lot, making this their official meeting place before splitting off into groups.
When asked how this event benefited the community, senior Community Service Club President Eric Silverstein said, “Just by keeping it clean. We want our community to look pretty, we want people to feel like it’s welcoming.”
Senior Zach Leno, Community Service Club secretary and Eco-Reps member, added, “It’s really important to come out and show that we’re involved as a student organization. It helps clean up the environment and remove hazardous materials.” Leno said he joined Eco-Reps after a friend who participated told him it was “awesome.”
“I’m an environmental studies major so I’m passionate about the environment,” Leno said. “[Eco-Reps] does a lot of hands-on work which I really loved and appreciated.”
Senior Ryan Rotigliano, treasurer of Eco-Reps, joined the club during his first year at KSC but was an on-and-off member.
“Last year I really honed in and got involved every week,” Rotigliano said.
There are multiple ways students can get involved with Eco-Reps on campus.
“I think the big thing is showing up to any random event. Most people will see a lot of what we do and come to an event and be like ‘I wish I joined this earlier,’” said March. “It’s also a good way to meet other people and build community around the fact that we all appreciate the planet and like doing things that make us and other people feel good.”
According to March, future events for both Eco-Reps and Community Service Club are still in the planning stages, but Eco-Reps hopes to work with the community kitchen to help serve meals.
Eco-Reps can be found on Facebook or Instagram @kscecoreps. Meetings are on Fridays at 2 p.m. in Science Center room 201.
Jaden Johnson can be contacted
