Trash bags laid out at the University Fountain Wednesday illustrate what one week of on-campus litter looks like. The Sustainability Committee educated students at the demonstration on the importance of recycling.
Students had a chance to help make campus “greener†and “more sustainable†Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University Fountain.
Three different campaigns shared petitions to keep the campus garden, named TIGUrS garden, near the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, reduce littering on campus and increase recycling bins across campus, while also making them noticeable.
Gerardo Trejo, 22, works as a student worker in the TIGUrS garden. He said the student garden has worked to get signatures for their petition for about a week, and after only the first 24 hours, the petition already garnished 1,000 online signatures.
“We are making our stand and point,†Trejo said. The garden will campaign until next Wednesday when a student government town hall meeting will take place in the University Center.
However, on Monday, the garden staff will tally up the votes and send the petition to Student Government Association president Jared Moses. About 1,400 people signed to keep the garden at its current location. Anyone can sign the petition to preserve the space, even non-students, and participants can sign the petition online as well as off.
According to Trejo, students have already left comments online asking why the garden must move, sharing what the garden means to them and explaining the effects of the garden leaving the space.
“If the garden stays, more gardens may come, and teachers can use the space to teach outside the classroom,†Trejo said. “Recently, there was a yoga class in the garden. It shows that people are using the garden.â€
If the petition does not pass, the garden will be relocated to another part of campus.
“We looked around for other spaces, but they don’t give as much sunlight as the current space,†Trejo said. “A lot of students and the community study, hang out and pick our fruits. That will be taken away.â€
TIGUrS garden is a part of UMpact, a student organization that aims to make students aware about sustainability on campus.
The Sustainability Committee is an organization at the U of M that aims to bring awareness about the amount of litter produced on campus. The committee asked students Wednesday to guess the weight of litter produced on campus during an average day.
“The goal is to hopefully reduce the amount of litter on campus,†Amelia Mayahi, sustainability manager at the university, said.Â
When students leave trash on the ground, it costs the U of M $1,044 to clean it up, according to Mayahi. She also said 30 landscape workers spend 60 hours (two hours per worker) to pick up the litter on campus.
“If the litter is not picked up by the workers, the trash goes into local rivers and streams and then to the ocean,†Mayahi said.
“Stop Litter†was a campaign by Keep Tennessee Beautiful, a volunteer organization to maintain Tennessee’s natural beauty and convince state residents to stop littering. The university campaigned to “Stop Litter†for three years.
UMpact petitioned for more recycling bins on campus to help combat littering problems. They have also hosted a scavenger hunt where students must find three different recycling bins across campus and post selfies.
UMpact is petitioning to have more noticeable bins on campus and reduce the litter.
“If the litter is not picked up by the workers, the trash goes into local rivers and streams and then to the ocean.â€
