With hip-high boots and protective gloves, the ISU Student Environmental Council and the ISU Soil and Water Conservation Club walked through mud, debris and waste to clean up College Creek as part of Earth Week.

The journey began along the creek near Lot 60, located behind the Firstar drive-up bank building, 2546 Lincoln Way, and took them north of Lincoln Way to just west of the Knoll.

“Our main goal is to make an impact on campus,” said Angela Sokolowski, co-president of the ISU Student Environmental Council. “Sometimes we don’t always get down to the nitty-gritty part of it.”

Sokolowski, senior in animal ecology, said the creek is convenient for the groups work on – and it just happens to be polluted.

Besides being polluted with fecal coliform bacteria by area Ames businesses, said Katie Theisen, co-president of ISU Student Environmental Council, there is a lot of litter in the creek.

“Litter is a big problem in the spring, because all winter long, people have been littering,” said Theisen, senior in environmental science. “We should showcase our campus – it shouldn’t be covered in trash.”

Amanda Peirce, junior in environmental science, said the group filled quite a few bags full of garbage. Some of this included plastic bags, beer bottles, Styrofoam containers and the base of a blender, she said.

Members of Tuesday’s clean-up crew all said they would stop someone who was littering and tell them to clean it up.

“People throw stuff out of my car window – I make them go get it,” Peirce said. “I don’t understand littering and don’t have the patience to put up with it.”

She said people who litter are being lazy and disrespectful.

Will Myers, president of the ISU Soil and Water Conservation Club, said he is disappointed the university doesn’t take better care of College Creek.

“There are a lot of grounds people that can help [control the liter] in the creek,” said Myers, junior in environmental science.

The university does a good job keeping the grass on central campus green, Theisen said, but the pesticides and chemicals pollute the creek and other water sources on campus. She said she also worries about the lack of native plants on campus.

Theisen said this week has been going well with a lot of people stopping by their booth in the Memorial Union. She said students can stop by and sign a pledge card for Earth Car-Free Day on Thursday. By signing the pledge card, she said, students are vowing not to drive cars on Thursday. She said there will be a booth in the Memorial Union today and a table near the free speech zone Thursday.

“We need to have respect for our campus and keep it looking beautiful,” Sokolowski said.