Stash the Trash, the second-annual citywide clean up, is looking for more student volunteers this Saturday.

In order to increase student awareness, John Tillo, vice president of the Student Environmental Council, joined Dave Kraemer, editor of The Ames Tribune and City Councilman Russ Cross to host the event.

“There has been a lot of strife between students and the community,” Tillo said. “This would be an excellent opportunity to understand each other better and to work on the one community concept.”

Last year, there were 300 volunteers from the community, but only one or two campus organizations took part, he said. This year, he said they are hoping for 450 to 500 volunteers, with much more student participation.

Volunteers will meet in the Hilton Coliseum parking lot to receive trash bags before heading to the place they have pledged to clean up. After cleaning, volunteers are invited back to Hilton for lunch provided by Wheatsfield Grocery, 413 Douglas Ave. The ISU Rotaract Club will be grilling and Chitty Garbage Service will be on site to dispose of the trash that is collected in the morning.

Everyone is invited to come and volunteer, Tillo said. Student groups can contact any of the three organizers to register.

“By involving many more volunteers, we can increase awareness to pick up litter, find ways to prevent it and make Iowa State and the community more beautiful,” Cross said.

In addition to involving more students in the annual cleanup, Tillo said he would like students to become more involved in recycling efforts on campus.

He said he has been working with 60 members on the environmental council throughout the year to improve the recycling efforts on campus.

He said that, ideally, he would like to see a program that mimics that of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where the ratio of trash cans to recycling bins is 1 to 1.

Tillo said people cannot continue to ignore scarce resources.

Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance, said Iowa State is in a unique setting that makes recycling difficult, but overall the university does a reasonable job.

“The university has a long, historical relationship with the solid waste recovery plant,” Madden said. “Twenty-five percent of the trash that is recycled through the facility comes from campus.”

The garbage that is thrown away goes to the plant, where it is sifted through and different metals are collected by magnets to be recycled, Madden said. Recycling facilities are far away, however, which adds extra transportation costs and hinders Iowa State’s recycling efforts.

Madden said Iowa State has to abide by state recycling laws, which means the university uses recycled paper.

He also said blue recycling bins are found in computer labs for white paper because it has a high economic value and is easy to collect.

Madden said a big recycling project will take place during the demolition of Knapp and Storms halls. Concrete from the buildings will be used in the construction of the road to the new dairy facility south of campus, he said.

Stash the Trash starts at 7:30 a.m., and people can pick up trash bags at the Iowa State Center parking lot until 11 a.m.