Oct. 6, 2014
Kyle Guthrie
[email protected]
The UCCS Office of Sustainability hosted its biannual “Clean the Stream” event Oct. 3, in which members hiked down to Templeton Creek to clean up litter.
The event was organized and led by sustainability communication coordinator Rachel Shaffer, a junior majoring in geography and environmental studies. She assembled the event in order to promote a cleaner environment around UCCS.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a freshman three years ago,” Shaffer said.
A program called Adopt a Waterway purchased the Templeton Creek property and maintain it and clean it twice a year.
“[It’s] an older program, but we’re excited because this is the first time we are doing it with Creek Week,” she said.
Creek Week is the tricountry effort to maintain the Fountain Creek watershed with volunteers actively participating to pick up trash along the waterways that make up the communities.
While the Templeton Gap Creek is not technically considered a part of the Fountain Creek watershed, sustainability decided to participate in the event due to the fact that the stream runs into the watershed.
Clean the Stream has been going on for several years and David Maxon, senior psychology major and the volunteer coordinator and communications student advisor for sustainability, hopes the event can continue to expand.
“I think there’s always room for more evolution,” he said.
The group met at the lower parking lot of University Hall and hiked roughly four miles to the clean up site up the Templeton Gap Creek trail. About 18 students showed up in the morning for the event, but more trickled in as the day went on.
Participants were hoping to spread the word of the event to others who may be interested in helping out next time.
“We’re hoping that everyone involved will bring people back next year and show that it’s fun to be sustainable,” Kylie Miller, junior biology major and intern for the Office of Sustainability, said.
“It’s an outreach thing, and it’s something that we want everybody to love and make a life choice about because we do think the planet is important.”