Keep town beautiful, litter-free
In a world where people spend increasing amounts of time indoors on the computer or watching TV, it’s a great relief to find a place in the natural world to relax and breath some fresh air.
We as students of CMU are lucky to reside in such a beautiful city that offers so many opportunities for recreational outdoor activities.
Mount Pleasant has one of the largest city-maintained park systems in Michigan. With public parks including Mill Pond, Nelson, Chip-a-Waters and others, our town makes it easy to get out and enjoy the beautiful world around us.
However, the amount of litter and garbage present in our parks has become increasingly noticeable. One could point to the return of students to CMU as the cause. It’s easy to toss your cigarette carelessly on the ground or chuck your empty pop or beer as far as you can into the woods because it’s “fun.” But these pointless acts can be detrimental to the ecosystems present in the parks. Not to mention it takes away from the beauty many people escape to on a daily basis.
The Mount Pleasant Parks and Recreation workers can only do so much with their limited workforce to keep our parks clean, which is why we as students and residents of this beautiful city need to take it upon ourselves to keep things looking good. Though it’s impossible to get everyone to go out and pick up the litter that surrounds some of our favorite areas, we should take it upon ourselves to evaluate our own ecological footprint, as well as those of our friends, to make sure we don’t become part of the problem. It’s as simple as cleaning up after yourself if you go for a picnic or disposing of your cigarettes in a proper receptacle when finished.
Another big problem is the dumping of cans and other waste articles into the Chippewa River. As the river is not only a place of summer recreation, but also a habitat to hundreds of animal and plant life, we need to be more careful about how we treat it. A good rule of thumb is to treat the outdoors as if it were your own front yard. Pick up after yourself, keep it clean, and leave it nice for others to enjoy.
Cody Stauber
Lake Orion sophomore
