Nature enthusiasts and environmental advocates celebrated a decade of environmental and community action at the 10th annual Creek Week between Sept. 10 and Oct. 8 in Colorado Springs. This year, the MSHS Environmental Club invited the MSHS community to volunteer.
Creek Week is one of the largest watershed-wide clean-ups in Colorado, where volunteers clean up litter along Fountain Creek to help prevent clogged drain systems, wildlife hazards and poor water quality. “There were 75 volunteers at the Manitou clean up, and we all started at Memorial Park then worked our way through the city,” Gabrielle Waters, head of the Environmental Club, said.
Environmental Club was started in 2016 by Waters in order to create a safe place for students and help the environment. “They promote sustainability, educate on environmental impacts and educate on how to reduce reuse and recycle,” Lesley Blyth, Waters’s colleague, said.
Creek Week was an opportunity that allowed for the club to support and help the local waterways to better the environment. “It was just super fun to make connections with the people that are doing the groundwork, like Rick’s Garden Center, the people that founded Creek Week, but then also to have the club go out and do something outside of school,” Waters said.
Creek Week is open to everyone who is willing to help out and clean the creek, like community members, students and workers. “Fifteen students were there to help, most from the Environmental Club, but a couple were from Key Club or just students who wanted to help,” Waters said.
This event is rewarding to the community as they are disappointed by the amount of cigarette butts, receipts and plastic trash around the creek and were glad to help. “It’s not a difficult task to go outside and pick up some trash and it’s super rewarding,” Emily Davis, Environmental Club president, said.
The organizers of Creek Week are extremely helpful as they provide food, water and supplies to support volunteers. “They gave us gloves and grabbers to help pick up the trash so it didn’t bother us to touch the trash,” Davis said.
Not only is Creek Week a great way to help the environment, but students are allowed to use it for volunteer hours as well. “We signed up through the Creek Week website and then we posted flyers around the school with a QR code. You just put in your name, then they send you an email telling you where to show up and with the events all over,” Waters said.
The community was happy to come out and help for the 10th annual Creek Week and hope for many more to come. “Each of us picked up a bag of trash, so imagine 75 bags full of garbage that are going into our waterways. We’re happy to do our part,” Waters said.
