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.