Students worked to improve the water quality of Hinkson Creek on Sunday morning by participating in a stream cleanup hosted by the Environmental Leadership Office.
“I really enjoy events like this,” Environmental Leadership Office adviser Ben Datema said. “One of the missions at our office is to provide educational opportunities like this to students at Mizzou. We’re hosting a variety of events throughout the semester that touch on or feature different environmental issues, so we are holding the stream cleanup today (Sunday) to talk about water quality issues and pollution.”
Hinkson Creek is soiled by stormwater runoff that goes unfiltered, which affects the water quality in Columbia, according to the Hinkson Creek Watershed Restoration Project website. On a daily basis, people do not throw their trash in garbage cans around campus, which then negatively impacts the water quality in the community.
“I think it’s important to care about the environment just because the environment is what supports us, and I think that a lot of us forget that,” senior Jeremy Elson said.
Elson said he often takes his dog to the Hinkson area to run around the creek.
“I don’t like to see trash, and I don’t like my dog picking up trash and getting choked on it — or any other animals, for that matter,” Elson said.
The Hinkson area is a common spot for people as well as animals. The Hinkson Creek Trail, spanning 6.7 miles, attracts everyone from dog walkers to runners, according to the City of Columbia website.
“Hinkson Creek Recreation Area is a large multipurpose area where people come to enjoy themselves,” said Hunter Maret, co-founder of Sustainable Peers Reaching Out, which is an MU sustainability peer education program. “The Environmental Leadership Office is hosting a stream cleanup to keep this area as pristine as possible, as well as catering for the needs of the native species. It is also a great learning experience for the students that joined us today. It helps us all feel connected to our natural environment.”
Plastic Gatorade bottles, cigarette butts and even larger pieces of trash, like unwanted chairs, were picked up. This event is just one example of how the Environmental Leadership Office and members of SPROUT try to sustain MU and surrounding areas, graduate student and SPROUT member Courtney Sommesi said.
Organizations such as the Environmental Leadership Office and SPROUT try to lead by example, she said.
“If one person picks up a piece of trash, they’ll see somebody doing that, and then hopefully it will motivate others to do the same,” Sommesi said.
