Second-year, Sydney Kimble, picks up an aluminum soda can while working the Clean Up Columbus events with her student organization, Public Relations Student Society of America. Credit: Jasmine Hilton | Lantern Reporter

On Sunday morning, over 200 students in 30 different organizations attended Clean Up Columbus to pick up litter on the streets surrounding campus.

Clean Up Columbus is an event organized by Undergraduate Student Government and held monthly throughout the academic year.

This past week, student groups left check-in at the Ohio Union wearing gloves and carrying trash bags in search for aluminum cans, plastic cups and other trash. They were assigned to different off-campus streets including Eighth, Ninth and 14th avenues.

Andrew Mulach, a fourth-year in communications and member relations director of the Ohio State chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America, said that the event shows how students care for the school and area around it.

“[People] appreciate seeing the students giving back to the community because it shows what our university and what our students stand for,” Mulach, who participated with PRSSA in Clean Up Columbus, said.

Miles Sibley, a third-year in international studies, organized the Clean Up Columbus project as the USG deputy director of annual projects.

“[College students] can be messy and the campus is not always the cleanest place,” Sibley said. “We are able to clean up and make sure campus is still a beautiful part of Columbus.”

A City of Columbus initiative, Keep Columbus Beautiful, partners with USG to provide supplies on a monthly basis to ensure the city does not become polluted with litter.

“We are really thankful for Keep Columbus Beautiful because they are able to give us a lot of supplies that we would otherwise have to purchase on our own,” Sibley said.

 

 

Although there was not much trash to collect this time of year, the cleanup is especially helpful during the autumn semester and football season when there is more litter outside.

USG will reward student organizations that participate by adding $75 to their accounts. Groups can also choose to receive community service hours for their work.

“We signed up to have a bonding experience and we also get funding for it, and it makes the campus a little prettier,” Priyanka Jain, a third-year in marketing and president of Refuge a student organization aimed at helping refugee and immigrant students become contributing members of their societies, said. “It’s a win-win situation.”

Sibley said the cleanup consistently draws large numbers of interested students and often reaches capacity at 30 organizations.

Many students said the cleanup gave members of their organization a chance to get to know each other better.

“I think it’s a good way for student organizations, no matter what you do, for your members to get closer together and get to know each other better and also do something worthwhile and something good for the community at the same time,” Mulach said.

The next Clean Up Columbus event is Feb. 19. Student organizations can sign up through USG at http://go.osu.edu/cleanupcolumbus.

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