LANSING - Local environmental enthusiasts joined together Saturday with events to celebrate the day before Earth Day.
The Adopt a River Program took place during the weekend with more than 400 volunteers collecting at least one bag of garbage each from the Grand and Red Cedar rivers’ banks, program Director Jennifer Rostar said.
“I was very happy with the dedication people had with coming out,” she said. “There were a lot of kids and a lot of community groups.”
MSU resource development Professor Bob Wilson made the project a requirement for his class.
Wilson and his students spent Saturday morning picking up garbage in the rain and mud along the Red Cedar River bank on Kalamazoo and Clippert streets.
“I think the students appreciated a chance to get out there and give back to the community,” he said. “Even though the rain was pretty depressing we got into a really heavy area of trash.”
Three of Wilson’s students -resource development juniors Heather Oberlin, Amanda Hightree and Jessica Thelen - stuck together as they trudged through mud dragging a 30-gallon garbage bag behind them.
“We’ve picked up a lot of fast-food wrappers, glass bottles and condoms,” Oberlin said. “Who comes down here and throws this stuff here anyway?”
Hightree, who has participated in similar projects, said picking up trash makes her day off a little more interesting than usual.
“I kind of look at it like there is no real reason I couldn’t come out and (clean the river bank),” she said.
Wilson said more students and community members need to get involved in Earth Day - which was Sunday.
“We were working hand-in-hand with people we didn’t know and everyone was showing up to do their part for the river,” he said.
For those who couldn’t spend their morning cleaning the rivers’ banks, Impression 5 Science Center and Museum, 200 Museum Drive in Lansing, held activities to get community members ready for Earth Day.
Among activities such as creating your own earth and making slime, families participated in a remaking-paper activity.
The centers’ employees helped a roomful of children turn ripped up and soaked paper back into a sheet of useable paper.
Nine-year-old Benjamin Johnson, of Williamston, was among the children doing the experiment.
“My favorite part was squishing out the water from the paper,” he said.
Benjamin’s mother, Rhea Johnson, said she brought her children to the science center because of the many things for children to do to learn about Earth Day.
“We like the whole idea of Earth Day and teaching the children they can help,” she said. “We always try to cut down on waste.”
Beth Purdue, an employee at the science center, said the center hopes the Earth Day activities will get people excited about celebrating Earth Day.
“We had our Earth Day celebration to make kids aware that there are ways to save the environment,” she said. “And have fun doing it.”
