Students, community 'Cleanup' Mystic River

Saturday's Mystic River Cleanup, sponsored by Tufts Water Watch, brought out students, community members, and Massachusetts political representatives in support of cleaning the state's waterways.

According to the Tufts Water Watch organizer Kate Drexler, the Cleanup's success was due to the hard work of the Water Watch volunteers in organizing and promoting the event.

"The day turned out to be incredible. We removed about 400 pounds of trash from the river and her banks," Drexler said. "We really cleaned up the park. The best part of the day, however, was looking around at everyone who [was] giving up their time on a Saturday afternoon to pick up other people's trash and seeing how empowered and proud that they felt. You could see it in their faces."

Approximately 75 people participated in the cleanup. According to Megan Desmedt, Eastern Massachusetts Organizing Director for MASSPIRG, the amount of volunteers who came out for the event exceeded anything she had seen before at Water Watch events.

"It is so encouraging to see so many students that are both ready and willing to come out on a Saturday morning and get their hands dirty cleaning a river," Desmedt said. "It is very impressive, and speaks measures about the Tufts community."

Several Massachusetts State Representatives attended the event. Among them were Jim Marzilli, Patricia Jehlen, and Paul Donato.

Marzilli, an avid environmentalist, worked alongside student volunteers, cleaning trash and wading through the river. He also walked among volunteers, educating them on the myriad of environmental issues currently plaguing Massachusetts and its waterways. Marzilli works alongside many environmental groups in the area, and was in fact on his way to another cleanup later that same day.

According to Marzilli, along with the obvious pollution issues, there are many other issues threatening plant and animal life in the area. He told a group of volunteers that among these problems, the non-native invasive plant species that are taking over trees and other plants in the area. A solution to this problem involves the manual removal of these plants.

"Tufts and community members have done an excellent job mobilizing to physically clean this area, and I am very impressed," Marzilli said. "The next step is for them to learn about further environmental issues and to continue to educate the public."

According to Tufts Water Watch Media Coordinator Sue Bernstock, Marzilli's participation was highly encouraging to volunteers.

"Representative Marzilli's presence on Saturday really showed us that our work is significant," Bernstock said. "Seeing him in there physically picking up trash alongside students, and knowing he was attending another cleanup that same day, was validation that our work is recognized as important to Massachusetts politicians."

Representative Paul Donato spoke to volunteers as well, answering questions on legislation and commending students on their outstanding dedication to the serious problem of water pollution.

"The issue of water condition is something we definitely recognize in the legislature," Donato said. "But because of financial constraints, education and healthcare tend to get priority on funding. Groups like [Water Watch] are absolutely essential, and the importance of their work is immeasurable."

The issue of funding was raised by all of the politicians who attended the cleanup. Marzilli commented on the budget cuts that the state of Massachusetts has faced over the past few years. "With billion dollar cuts in funds for public services over each of the past few years, the chance of any of it going to public cleaning projects is getting smaller and smaller," Marzilli said.

Malia Matson, a freshman at Tufts who is planning on majoring in environmental engineering, attended the cleanup to experience her first Water Watch event.

"I had a good time cleaning and meeting a lot of different people; Tufts students and kids outside of Tufts," Matson said. "I definitely hope to come to more Water Watch events in the future."

A local community group and local environmentalists also attended the event. By the end of the Cleanup, the parking lot was overflowing with trash-bags full of garbage, lawn furniture, aluminum rods, and a shopping cart. All had been plucked from the river by volunteers.

Water Watch volunteers were happy with the results of the Cleanup, for both the sake of the river and their own hard work.

"The day was called the 'Make a Difference Day' Cleanup," said Drexler. "When I asked people what they thought about the day, a huge response was, 'I really felt like I made a difference.' It was humorous, because they didn't even mean to reiterate the day's theme. But I believe we did make a difference, on the Mystic and within ourselves."