51福利社

Faculty and staff volunteers recently spent a sunny April afternoon planting, weeding and watering the campus landscaping, all part of 51福利社鈥檚 third annual 鈥淪pring into Action: Campus Clean-up Day.鈥�

Erin Endres, Eastern鈥檚 climate resilience specialist, is one of the event鈥檚 organizers. She says the day鈥檚 goal, other than the obvious tidying up, is to move the campus toward becoming a more sustainable home for native plants. She hopes to do this by raising awareness of composting, recycling initiatives and sustainability basics such as sound soil science.

鈥淚鈥檓 just trying to show that you don鈥檛 have to let 鈥榩erfect be the enemy of good,鈥欌�� Endres says. Many people see sustainability as an all or nothing commitment, she says. But it doesn鈥檛 have to be that way. While major lifestyle changes 鈥� like becoming vegan or ditching fast fashion 鈥� are great, even just doing a little bit to help out, such as planting some seeds around Ar茅valo Mall, can make a big difference in the environment and our connection to it.

Endres says that Eastern events like the spring clean-up and the ongoing Prairie Restoration Project are perfect for fostering support and involvement from the university community.

Carl Combs, a veteran volunteer of Campus Clean-up Day, is all-in on his participation, even bringing his own gardening equipment to help out. 鈥淚 have a blower, trimmer, rakes and other things, because I鈥檝e learned from past years that certain tools can really help,鈥� he said.

Combs, who earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree at Eastern in 1988, now works as Eastern鈥檚 IT Support Services supervisor. 鈥淧eople really do care about this place,鈥� Combs says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 been home for years, so you start taking pride in the environment.鈥� Combs says he also hopes to set an example for those who may not think of themselves as the stewards of our campus landscape.

Another clean-up volunteer, Melissa Graham, assistant dean of student success and belonging, was thankful for the opportunity to be sharing time outdoors with people she usually doesn鈥檛 get to see. 鈥淚t鈥檚 [also] an excuse to not be behind a computer for as many hours as I usually am,鈥� she says, adding that the event has helped her to feel closer to the land.

Graham, who is also a senior lecturer in mathematics, is new to the campus clean-up event. But she says she will definitely be back next year.

鈥淚 love how beautiful this campus looks when it gets to be graduation time,鈥� Graham says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 just fun to be a part of making that happen.鈥�