Did you know that the 35th annual Earth Day is this Friday? If you were actually aware of this, congratulations. There are many things you can do — even in a small and simple way — to help keep our planet healthy and vibrant. That’s why you should take an hour or two on Saturday morning and participate in a community clean-up event called Stash the Trash.

Sure, it doesn’t sound that glamorous, but it is a considerate gesture and a way you can give back to the community from which you get so much. All you have to do is gather a couple of your friends and pledge to clean-up a neighborhood or area around Ames that you feel needs a little help. Volunteers are welcome to pick up trash bags and other free supplies any time after 7:30 a.m. Saturday in the Hilton Coliseum parking lot. Once you have picked up your trash bags, you can scour the area you’ve pledged to clean up. You can clean for as long or as little as you like (generally, a couple of hours seems to get a lot of trash cleaned up without everyone exhausting themselves), after which you’re invited to meet up with other volunteers and bring your garbage or recyclables back to the Hilton Coliseum parking lot for free disposal.

To end the event, a variety of food will be grilled during the afternoon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., both non-vegetarian and vegetarian.

Grilling will be done by the Iowa State Rotaract Club. All volunteers are welcome to eat some free food and hang out after a hard morning’s work.

Please contact John Tillo at [email protected] or Dave Kraemer, [email protected] to pledge to clean up a neighborhood.

We could use your help, and it would be a great way to show Ames that ISU students really do care. See you Saturday!

Melissa Fox

Senior

Nutritional Science