Ava Dufrene

Students pick up trash on environmental clean up day, Sept. 21.

Around 200 Loyola and Tulane students cleaned up trash around the city, picking up an estimated 300-400 pounds of waste, according to Mark Tobler, biology research associate professor.

Environmental Studies Director Joel MacClellan said the annual World Cleanup Day was important to raise environmental awareness to the community. He noticed the neighborhood had shown interest in the volunteer work. 

“I think this is about awareness raising. It helps the community know what’s going on. We were stopped many, many times. ‘What are you doing? This is great. Who are you?’” MacClellan said. “There’s word on the street now because of this, which is great, but also it gives our students a chance to be in the community because there’s often not a lot of hopefulness in environmental studies.” 

MacClellan said these events have the ability to bring students hope through the environmental crisis.

“I think that’s actually a very fundamental part of doing good work to protect the environment. It’s having a vision of a better future, and this sort of manifests that reality so much,” he said.

Ana Beatriz Paz, freshman and environmental science major, participated in the cleanup as a volunteer. As a new resident of New Orleans, she feels that working together with the community will help with the process of settling in.

“Being able to clean up the city and areas that I frequently visit really makes me feel like a part of this city and community, and I feel rewarded for being able to make a difference and bring some joy and peace to others’ lives,” Paz said. 

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Environmental science freshman and volunteer, Abigail Silvas said she feels an obligation to help when she can.

“I just came to a new city. The school that I went to, they focused a lot on community and volunteer work, so I wanted to give back to this new community that I’m part of,” Silvas said.