Michael Burnett – Tailgate cleanup

For our tailgate cleanup experience after the UGA – Missouri football game , we cleaned behind O-house near a river Sunday 11-1PM. Our role was to pick up as much trash as we could within that amount of time. Patrick and I teamed up, collecting as much as we could putting it in our trash bag. I found plenty of trash old and new, ranging from beer cans to styrofoam cups. We even found a whole tire and managed to pull it to the top of the hill. The group of us who were there continued to work, filling up five whole trash bags from the area.

I was very surprised to find out how much trash there was even after the paid cleanup crew swept the area. This made me realize the necessity of the cleanup, to back up the paid cleaners who did not pick up everything in the hardest spots to clean up.

The experience reminded me to be more careful about how I treat the environment. Even the smallest piece of trash has potential to affect ecosystems. I gained skills of getting my hands a little dirty to do a good service to the environment. however, I lack the skills to pick up every single bit of trash in the area. Due to objects being hidden or buried, I feel there is still more to be cleaned.

As a result of my experience, I will do everything in my power to keep UGA post-tailgate clean as possible. Any piece of trash I see in my line of sight will be picked up.

Rivers Alive Cleanup

I did the River’s Alive Cleanup for my outreach project. Specifically, I worked at the MLK Greenway helping clean up the riverbank. There we searched for trash and materials that shouldn’t be near waterways. I went with a few of my classmates and we worked in pairs to find and bag the trash.

I was pleasantly surprised by how small the amount of rubbish we found was. That is not to say that there was nothing to find; there were still bags and bags of garbage but having been around other similar rivers I could really see the difference that Rivers Alive has made in the years it has been working on the banks. It was especially obvious as there was a private stretch of land in our area that we left alone which clearly had significantly more debris in the wooded areas. While we still found objects that frankly had no reason to be there, I could see the progress that had been made and was really proud of the people who have been working toward improving our river.

I think experiencing the process of cleaning up such important areas is useful for everyone in that it makes our effects on the environment easier to understand. I do not think that the experience required any special skills or knowledge, though I found having some personal experience in the woods helpful. While I did not run into any poison ivy or snakes, I found that being prepared for such situations helped put me at ease so I would suggest others have some short teachings on such things as well.

I found that I enjoyed the experience more than I expected and may consider doing it again in the future. The people who were in charge were really nice and appreciated everyone’s help regardless of skill level. I had the chance to speak with one of the men who had participated in Rivers Alive many times before and he told me about how in the 70s people used to use their trash to build up embankments, not knowing any better. I found this fascinating as I have never understood before how so much garbage ever began to accumulate by these rivers. In the future regardless of whether I am able to help with cleanup again, I plan to support the efforts of River Alive and encourage others to do the same and take care of the planet we have.

Outreach Blog Post

Linda Cullen

I chose the River’s Alive cleanup as my outreach project. I saw all the trash left on the side of a major road in Athens and down by the river near it. There were so many pieces of trash all over the MLK Greenway. I was with a group of about 20 other people, which included people from our class and other volunteers. I worked with another student to pick up trash together. She held the trash bag while I used the grabber to pick up the trash and put it into the trash bag.
I expected there to be a lot of trash, but there was so much more than I expected. I was very surprised to see the high amount to trash all over the MLK Greenway. I was also upset at how careless and lazy people can be by throwing their trash on the side of the road instead of taking the extra second to throw it away in the proper disposal area. I was happy to see all the people who volunteered their time to clean up the trash. There were so many more people than I expected there to be, which I was glad to see.
This experience was very useful in giving me a first hand look at how common trash pollution is in our communities. While I always knew that littering was a problem, seeing the effects right in front of me really showed how big of an issue it is. I learned what to pick up on my own and what to alert the leader about, like things that would be dangerous to touch or things I don’t recognize. What I learned in class also helped me understand how important it is to keep our watersheds and roads clean.
Now that I know how prevalent littering and pollution is in our community, I will do my best to clean up after myself and others. I will also try to do more volunteer work to help our environment, as well as educating others on the importance of keeping the earth clean.

Zach O’Connor – Tailgate Cleanup

For my outreach project, I participated in the tailgate cleanup after the Missouri game. Our goal was to collect trash that was left behind after tailgating. The group I was in walked along Tanyard Creek from Oglethorpe to Bolton. On the way back, we walked along South Lumpkin Street. Overall, there was not that much trash left behind. The university hires a crew to clean up after gameday, and they do a great job collecting trash. However, there were still places where we were able to collect trash. The majority of trash found were hidden away next to walking paths. There was also some trash in the creek. The majority of trash collected was related to tailgating. We mainly collected bottles, cans, and red solo cups.

During this project, I was surprised about the tailgate trash situation. I was surprised that a cleanup crew works that well and fast to clean our campus, and I was also shocked that people would throw their trash off to the side or in the creek. What concerned me more was the broken glass that we came across. At a few places, we came across broken glass bottles on the sidewalk. This is dangerous for people to walk around. People need to be more considerate when they have glass bottles. Even with all the trash cans dispersed for gameday, there are some people who will just leave their trash on the ground. By participating in this outreach, it made me appreciate the people who clean the UGA campus. After gamedays, the campus is a wreck, and these workers will clean the whole campus. This experience made me more aware of maintaining a clean environment around UGA. It helped me understand that everyone needs to chip in to keep the great appearance of our campus.

Community Outreach- Tailgate Cleanup

Jack Caiaccio

For my community outreach project, I decided to focus on cleaning up tailgate trash after the Missouri football game. Our group cleaned up the areas behind O-House, and down near Tanyard Creek. It is very evident that tailgating has a major effect on the city of Athens, but it goes too far when people leave their trash, especially cans, on the ground. The University cleaning crews do a good job of getting garbage picked up at the main tailgate areas, but they missed some of the areas that are not as heavily populated on game days.

During our outreach project, we walked around with garbage bags and picked up trash, mostly empty cans and bottles. We picked up about 3 trash bags worth of garbage as a group, and some members even got an old tire and ironing board from the river bank. During the cleanup, I realized how important it is to keep our beautiful campus clean. The UGA officials do such a great job and we sometimes take that for granted, but when you get behind the scenes, you realize just how much tailgating affects the area.

Keeping our campus clean should be a priority for every single UGA student. It was rewarding to help clean up the campus that so many of us call home. I believe that if every remains environmentally conscious during game day, we can avoid any littering during games and truly have one of the best campuses in the world.

CCHS Outreach Reflection – Mary Catherine Meno

For my outreach project I went to Clarke County High School and worked with students in one of the biology classes to look at various bacteria samples and calculate the number of colonies that grew. To prepare for this, I did the experiment beforehand. We first took samples of soil and divided them up into smaller samples and diluted those to varying degrees. These diluted samples were then plated on tet plates and left to allow bacteria to grow. A week later, the colonies in each sample were counted and the total colony formulating units (CFUs) and the percent that were resistant to tetracycline were calculated. The samples were later taken to Clarke County High School where I worked with students to count the colonies and do the same calculations. The research completed may be similar to any future research I participate in in terms of the methods followed. While the content of the research itself may be different, it is import to follow scientific steps and also be aware of errors such as cross contamination or human miscalculation.

Once at the high school, I explained to the students the lab work that had previously been completed with their soil samples. It’s important for the students to understand the background of what they’re doing and where the samples came from so they realize that some of these samples were from their own soil sites. I walked the students step by step through calculating the CFUs and had them work in pairs so everyone was engaged. Lastly, I had the students report their data to the PARE website so that it could be used for other purposes. The information and knowledge I gained about soil sampling and testing came from in-class lectures and case studies as well as hands on experience in the lab and classroom. Presenting the lab and information to the students definitely helped me learn about the topic better because I had to have a more complete understanding in order to answer the students’ questions.

In order to be intellectually stimulating, the project had various aspects that allowed students to participate in. They gathered soil samples and then, after the lab work, were encouraged to think about where that soil came from and what the results meant in terms of that location. To be relevant to the students, we were working with soil that they had collected. When the students actively participate in this way it gives them a reason to be more invested and motivated to help with the process. It was somewhat difficult to be creative when we were following a set list of instructions, but I worked to incorporate various relevant questions and different teams to introduce creativity. In this process I learned that it can be difficult to manage multiple teams at once, but that I am able to do this efficiently. I also was reminded of the various interests of high schoolers and how those interests can carry over into unique questions related to the project.

I analyzed my audience before even arriving to the school and assumed that I would need to work to engage them in the project as some of them may not show great interest. However, I learned that the students were all curious because they had a personal “stake” in the process since we were using their own soil sample. In the future I think it will remain important to have predetermined strategies for engagement but that it’s okay to be flexible and be prepared to disregard those if the audience is actively engaged or engaging in a way you didn’t think about. Next time I do an outreach project like this I plan to not hand out the samples until after giving an introductory speech/explaining what we will be doing, as the samples can be distracting.

By participating in this outreach project I was able to better understand the course content because I had to know the background and the information on a level where I was comfortable answering questions that are not just the straightforward ones. Preparing for this project by analyzing the audience and using that to adjust my approach and ensuring the content was presented at a level that was comprehendible allowed me to better understand presenting and working with groups of different ages. With this experience I learned that coursework in college is still relevant coursework in high school because of the underlying topic that it relates to. Both the high school students and our class are learning about water quality, the only difference is the scope at which we are learning it. Understanding this will allow me to work further with people of various age groups on topics and issues that I am covering in classes even if I hadn’t thought that it would be relevant. I believe that what I came to deliver and help the students understand came across fairly clear, though in the future I could work on explaining the affects of the results and the projects and what they mean to the students. The outreach project overall was effective in helping me gain a deeper understanding of water quality and what affects it and using presentation and leadership skills to share this information with others. Now I know that what I am learning here is relevant everywhere and to everyone and hopefully it can be shared widely in order to work to change the quality of our water systems.

Patrick Leonard Tailgate Cleanup

The morning after the Missouri game, I went with a group to clean up litter around Ohouse and Tanyard Creek, since the cleaning crews removed all of the tailgating garbage before we had a chance to. I had never been to the area of campus where we focused much of our cleaning, so I enjoyed having a positive impact on the area the first time I was there. I had a trash bag to collect small items, such as wrappers and cans, but I focused most of my efforts on removing larger items, such as the ones pictured above. These items were more difficult to remove, which is probably why they were still there. These items often had vines or roots growing around them, demonstrating that these items were not meant to be where they were. My primary reaction when finding these items was confusion as to how they got there, since I did not expect to find a tire and ironing board above the creek bed. It felt good to improve the health of the UGA ecosystem by removing items that could have harmed it. Doing work like this helped me understand the importance of cleaning up after myself around campus. Ideally, work like this would not be necessary, but I was happy to help maintain the cleanliness of the campus.

Paul Paterson – Rivers Alive Cleanup

Oops, forgot to do this one a while back!

For my outreach, I visited the Rivers Alive Watershed cleanup event on the 5th of October. As you can see in the image above, during this event we gathered a lot of trash from the riverbed of the Oconee River. Metal, plastic, electronics – one of the biggest things we hauled out was an old TV filled with dirt and having vines growing out of it. We also pulled a screen door, a bicycle frame, and many other interesting things out of the ground. To be honest, I didn’t know much about what we would be doing beforehand – I just knew where to go, when to go there, and to come ready to get dirty.

I learned a lot from this activity, one of those being the sheer amount of trash that the cleanup location had. It was near a few apartment blocks, as well as a frat house, so it would make sense for there to be a lot of garbage, but I was still surprised at just how much there really was. Beer bottles and cans, diapers, disposable food packaging, etc. If there weren’t an organized activity to clean this place up, what would have happened to it? Things would continue to pile up until it’s no longer a riverbed, but a landfill that just so happens to have a river near it. But while I was cleaning, I spoke to some of the other participants. Some of them had been doing this activity every year for as long as they’d been in Athens, others were immigrants to the US who were helping as a way to get to know the Athens area. Others were students at UGA from an English graduate student program. But despite all being very different people, they had one thing in common: they were good people who felt motivated to help. And despite the fact that there was way more trash than I expected at the site, the presence of these amazing people gives me some hope.

I definitely feel that this experience was very interesting. I was in Beta Club in high school, so I’ve done volunteering in the past, but for Beta I was mostly doing activities I knew I would enjoy and was kind of just looking to finish my required 20 hours of service. I never really pushed myself or left my comfort zone, so this activity was a good push. Because I enjoyed it, I think I now feel more confident in leaving my comfort zone more often, which will allow me to do more things I wouldn’t have in the past. In addition, it was informative; I learned more than I did before about recycling, disposal of trash, and, as mentioned before, just how much stuff people throw away in improper places. I think that in the future I’ll probably make a conscious decision to actually pay more attention to littering in places like riverbeds and greenways, because seeing how much trash there was was very saddening to me.

Volunteering in this event caused me to have a shift in my feeling towards my environment. I’ve always felt that the corporate individualization of blame and deflection of responsibility onto consumers was the biggest problem, and while I still feel that, I now know that there is actually something that people can do to help. I’m now more motivated to learn about opportunities to help and even participate in those opportunities. I truly do plan on helping with these sorts of things more in the future.

Outreach Project

By: Emily Larking

For my outreach project, I worked on the tailgating project to help clean up the campus after home football games. Our group examined areas of the campus before and after home football games to see what trash was left behind. It was important to examine the before and after to ensure that the tailgating was responsible for the trash we found and is important to examine in similar research. We discovered through our cleanup on Sunday that, although tailgating did result in a lot of trash, UGA does a great job of making sure it is cleaned up early the next day.

Many people don’t usually think about the impacts of the trash left behind from tailgating and only that it is a fun pre-game activity. This project was intellectually stimulating because although the clean up crew does a good job, there is still evidence of trash left behind if you look hard enough. It’s relevant to UGA students because we all go to school here and many of us live here so we should want to take care of our campus. Our group had to get creative when searching for trash such as heading down into the creek to grab a can.

I assumed campus would be a mess the Sunday after tailgating but in reality, searching for trash was more difficult than I would’ve thought. I discovered areas where trash was most likely to be such as around stairs or near the creek. We knew that our audience were UGA students, many of whom were likely to attend home football games. We want students to know that although it may appear spotless on campus on Sundays, if you look more closely there is trash that can still harm the environment.

I would probably have chosen an earlier game and had the cleanup afterword if I did it differently. Also I may have chosen to search around Tate for trash. It related to the environmental aspects of our class, such as water quality. Pollution negatively impacts this water quality. I learned that although an environment may appear to be spotless, pollution can be found where humans have been. This assignment was effective in helping to show me that UGA does have an issue with pollution in our creeks and other areas.

CCHS Service Outreach

On September 27, I went to Clarke Central High School to show AP environmental science students how to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in soil samples. This was different than when we were doing this in our class, because I had to take a lead role and teach them myself. I found that I understood the process better when I had to be able to explain it and answer questions.

I liked doing this with the high school students because I could see them start to understand just how important of an issue antibiotic resistance is. They were disgusted by the bacteria and did not like that they were present on even the plates with antibiotics. When I told them that these were dilutions and there were actually thousands more bacteria in the original 1g of the sample, I could see that they understood the problem.

Most of the students I was working with were very engaged in the project, which was what I expected since they are taking an elective about environmental science. I worked with two groups of three, and one group was doing a very good job of carefully counting and documenting everything. The other group had one member who was working hard and two freshman who spent the majority of the time flirting, which was frustrating for me because I couldn’t get them to focus for very long. However, both groups did finish counting in time for me to explain the calculations and for the two groups to compare their data.

This picture shows the set up of the group that was documenting all of their data on their own without me having to come over and tell them to do it.

I would definitely do another outreach to a high school. I think it is very important to educate children about environmental issues so that they can help fix them. Additionally, these students learned skills for doing research. At first, they didn’t understand why there were two different sets of plates that both had to be counted, but at the end, when we were comparing data, they saw that the two sets yielded similar but different numbers and that we had to average them for the most accurate results.