Ferris State and Big Rapids have seen a pile-up of trash in certain areas throughout the community.
Trash is not a new problem for the community, but a solution is still required, as the dangers of garbage are widespread. Littering contributes to a significant pollution problem happening all over the world. Millions of animals die each year from trash ingestion and physical harm brought on by garbage.
Volunteers set out to clean Big Rapids’ stretch of M-22 three times a year by Adopt-A-Highway.
Petsavers has sent volunteers to clean the road outside the Animal Rescue Coalition multiple times a year.
City manager Mark Gifford contributed that the problem results from a wide range of issues, but efforts have been made to work past this issue.
“We could have more groups, more facilities, more garbage cans,” Gifford said. “I’m not blaming anybody, but it is a constant battle to keep up.”
Gifford also mentioned that education programs around public recycling can get tricky because if items are not sorted correctly, someone can ruin the whole batch of recycling. This mix-up can make implementing public education about littering and recycling difficult.
In the past, there have been several Ferris-sponsored initiatives to help with community cleanliness. Events for Earth Day and the Big Event saw Ferris students going out on campus and in the community to pick up garbage, although some of these clean-ups, including the Big Event, have been canceled over the past year.
Ferris alum Casey Conley spearheaded a public advocacy project in 2020 to clean up Mitchell Park, which he explained was notoriously crowded with garbage.
Conley, a Big Rapids native, stated that his motivation for the project was to make the parks enjoyable for everyone.
“If you want to have a good time at a park, you want it to be clean,” Conley said. “What can we do for the long term? If you do this now, will there be a lack of littering? It was something good for everybody.”
Conley was also a part of a project to clean the disc golf course at Northend Riverside Park.
In another heavily trafficked area, Conley recalled finding an old barber chair left out to the elements.
This circumstance demonstrated the extent of the garbage accumulation. ARC was also affected by the amount of trash in the area.
The manager of the animal rescue Sherri Pennington said that the garbage cans pose a danger to the dogs at the facility.
“We see anything from empty alcohol cans to McDonald’s bags on the sides of the road,” Pennington said. “That’s a problem because dogs will pretty much grab anything they can.”
Pennington noted that ARC staff members pick up as much trash as possible, but they can only do so much alone.
Criminal justice sophomore Alyssa Englund volunteers with ARC and expressed concern not only for the dogs at the rescue but the state of the campus.
“It makes me mad, especially when people spit out their gum on the sidewalk,” Englund said. “People are coming to our campus, and if our campus looks like trash and there’s litter everywhere, then nobody’s going to want to come here.”
While Ferris has facilities dedicated to trash pick-up and campus maintenance, garbage is still strewn about campus.
Gifford stated that the city is aware of the littering problem and is making efforts to address it appropriately.
“I don’t know why exactly this happens,” Gifford said. “We have a pretty robust effort to keep up our parks. But there’s always more that you can do.”
Educating students and residents about the importance of proper garbage disposal is the first step toward the city’s goal of a clean community.