Five students collected seven bags of garbage for the Trash Bash Nov. 6.

Tyson Holder, a graduate student, organized this past Saturday’s Trash Bash and said they try and do two to three of these a year.

“We picked this date because it was a couple of weeks after Homecoming, and we know there is a lot of trash in the streets,” Holder said.

These events are important because it shows the residents of Charleston that students do more than go to school and drink, Holder said.

“It shows Charleston that we do consider it to be our home,” he said.

Holder said some problems that litter can cause are harm to animals, devaluing property values, and it just looks trashy.

Rachel Fisher, the director of student community service, confirms the idea that these trash collections are about cleaning up and having a positive impact on the community.

“It’s really about beautification and respecting our community,” Fisher said. “Besides also when you are walking around campus and on the streets, you are suddenly walking where you can really appreciate what’s around you.”

The amount of garbage varies each time; it depends on how many students show up. Sometimes there is very little garbage that is picked up, and sometimes there is quite a bit collected after celebratory weekends, Fisher said.

Student community service is looking at expanding this program to separate out the recyclables.

“One of the things we are interested in looking at is the recycling portion of it and how much of it may be potentially recyclable,” Fisher said. “We are working with a couple of student groups to discuss that.”

When the students go out on these Trash Bashes, they usually concentrate on the streets six to seven blocks off campus.

At the last Trash Bash, the students patrolled Fourth, Sixth and Seventh streets from Lincoln Avenue to Harrison Street.

Marcus Smith can be reached at 581-7942 or masmith6@eiu.edu.