Ten students and four community members huddled together on

Sunday, Oct. 21, eager to clean up
trash around Presque Isle Park with
NMU’s Conservation Crew.
The group collected 10 pounds
of trash in total in comparison to

the roughly 20 pounds that was collected last year, senior environmental studies and sustainability major

and cofounder of NMU Conservation Crew Lynnae Branham

said. Picking up less trash this year
compared to 2017 signified that the

group has been making a difference

already, she added, but there will always be more trash to pick up.

“Yesterday was very successful.
The main goal was to pick up trash
and do what we can to clean up the

park,” senior information assurance and cyber security major and

cofounder of NMU Conservation

crew Nicholas Potyok said. “In addition, we were able to spread the

word about what the club is trying

to accomplish. We want to help preserve the local area of Marquette

as well as show the community that
NMU students are willing to do

their part as members of the community.”

They both noted that cigarette
butts were the most common item
that participants were picking up.
They also quickly realized that the
majority of the trash was found
around the edges of the park in
places like Black Rocks, Sunset
Point and the entrance to the park
near the marina, Potyok added.
“We hit all of those key points
on our first cleanup but never
got the chance to get to the inner

trails of the park. This past Sunday we covered all of the key spots

in the park and the inner trails,”
Potyok said.

Having more people in comparison to the previous year made a

large difference, Branham said.
“We personally follow the belief
of ‘leaving places better than how

you found them,’ so picking up
trash we see in parks or along trails

is a simple way to do that,” Branham said. “On a larger scale, it’s important to help preserve our natural

lands so that they can continue to be
enjoyed in the future.”