Students rolled up their sleeves and got to work picking up litter at the University of Alabama, Birmingham over the weekend. The cleanup project was the first of the semester for the CFACT group on campus, which included about a dozen Collegians taking part.
Located downtown, the UAB campus is the repository of not only trash tossed about by students, but also from locals walking or driving by. And which item was a litterbug’s favorite? The students said the clear winner went to cigarette butts, which they found in abundance — though they also noted there were plenty of wrappers, containers and other debris that somehow missed the trash cans as well.
“I did not realize how many cigarette butts could be found on a non-smoking campus,” said UAB student Amber Scossins, “but it feels good to pick these trashy things up.”
The CFACT UAB chapter conducted the litter cleanup to showcase positive environmental stewardship to their peers. While some groups on campus “talk” about the need to clean up the environment, few actually do things as tangible as a litter cleanup to bring this about.
“I think that cleaning up a portion of our campus is a great example of being an environmental steward,” stated junior Dillan Reed, “I feel I’m doing my part to keep our planet clean.”
CFACT stands for protecting the environment through free markets and encourages active citizen involvement. For the students that participated, this weekend litter pickup was an opportunity to make that point.
“To me, CFACT is a perfect example of how the conversation about environmentalism is moving in a more free-market and pro-liberty direction,” quipped Ashley Overton, “I’m very happy with our effort here today.”
