Principia’s Sustainability Club collaborated with an outside organization and participated in the annual clean-up event West of campus on the Mississippi River, earlier this semester. 

They hopped in boats to arrive on the islands in the Mississippi River, which were full of trash. This caused the volunteers to take multiple trips extracting bags of trash. 

Senior Rabin Ojode helped remove trash from the islands.

“It was kind of cool being there,” Ojode said, “knowing that you’re making something happen, not a big difference, but making something happen.” 

Sustainability club co-president and sophomore Ronja Bakowsky also participated in the cleanup. She said the event highlighted the importance of the sustainability club.

Bakowsky said the sustainability club was about involvement in making a difference and “having a community and seeing that a lot of people care about sustainability and about our planet.”

So, even though the cleanup only made a small dent in the grand scheme of the river’s pollution, it’s an important step in the right direction, she said. She stressed that the club is always welcoming new members to join their events.