The MTSU Stormwater Program recently completed two successful community cleanups with the help of student volunteers to protect water supplies on campus and in the surrounding community.

A campus cleanup was held Monday, Oct. 27, near the detention ponds along Rutherford Boulevard on the east side of campus. The effort resulted in the collection of 165 pounds of trash by the 52 volunteers, made up mostly of students.

MTSU Stormwater Program staffer Amanda Sherlin, right, passes out special buttons to student volunteers who helped during an Oct. 27 cleanup event near the retention ponds on the east side of campus. (Photos courtesy of MTSU Stormwater Program)

Volunteers cleaned up the grassy areas around the detention ponds that collect the campus’ stormwater runoff.

On Wednesday, Oct. 29, a smaller group of student volunteers participated in a cleanup event at the spring beside the Oaklands Historic House on North Maney Avenue in Murfreesboro.

Volunteers had to wear waterproof boots or waders as well as long pants and long-sleeved shirts for this cleanup, which required volunteers to get in the water to remove trash and debris in some cases. Some volunteers waded, and others used kayaks to reach the deeper parts of the spring.

The Oaklands cleanup, which included four student volunteers and a staffer from the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department, resulted in 110 pounds of trash being removed, including a 40-pound cylinder.

The MTSU Stormwater Program strives to raise awareness about the importance of water quality and to reduce the amount of pollutants that flow into the water supply through runoff.

For more information or questions about these events, contact Amanda Sherlin with the MTSU Stormwater Program at 615-904-8575, by email at Amanda.Sherlin@mtsu.edu or visit www.mtsu.edu/stormwater.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

Participants in the MTSU Stormwater cleanup event at the spring near Oaklands Historic House on North Maney Avenue pose for a photo. They included, from left to right, MTSU student Marina Brown, Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation staffer Marta Morgan, MTSU Stormwater Program staffers Cynthia Allen and Shelia Knight, student Macie Mussleman, Stormwater staffer Amanda Sherlin, and students Keith Dillard and Mostafa Hassan.

MTSU student volunteers Cameron Dandridge, a freshman exercise science major from Memphis, Tennessee; Paizley Wilburn, an undeclared freshman from Giles County, Tennessee; and Achol Wek, a freshman chemistry/pre-med major from Memphis, help the MTSU Stormwater Program during a campus cleanup up event on Oct. 27.

MTSU senior Steven Chaput, a mechanical engineering major from Manchester, Tennessee, separates recyclables from trash collected by student volunteers during an Oct. 27 cleanup event hosted by the MTSU Stormwater Program. Chaput is a member of Students for Environmental Action.

MTSU Stormwater Program staffer Cynthia Allen dons camouflage waders to do her part during the program’s Oct. 29 cleanup event at the spring near Oaklands Historic House on North Maney Avenue.