About a half dozen students spent the better part of Saturday wading through a South Campus creek, looking for items long since forgotten.
Despite the overcast weather, student volunteers were able to collect more than 45 pounds of trash from the Meeting of the Waters Creek for Big Sweep - a national program with a focus on cleaning bodies of water to better the environment.
Volunteers found items such as glass bottles, cans, metal pipes, a tire and a miniature football in the creek near Ehringhaus Residence Hall.
"We've found cassette tapes, a wallet, all sorts of sporting goods, all sorts of clothing," said Dan Waxman, a water quality technician and environmental auditor for UNC's Department of Environment, Health and Safety.
Waxman has participated in more than 10 creek clean-ups in Chapel Hill and Wilmington. He said bikes and refrigerators have also been found in the state's creeks.
In 2004, Big Sweep volunteers in Orange County collected an estimated 1,160 pounds of trash from the county's bodies of water.
"These do make an impact," Waxman said.
This year's Big Sweep clean-up "Come Out and Clean Up" had an additional goal of promoting collaboration between the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and environmental communities of Chapel Hill. The two to three UNC creek clean-ups held each semester typically have different group focuses, but are open to all members of the community.
A Green Greeks clean-up is tentatively scheduled for late October or early November. Last year's program experienced overwhelming success with more than 80 volunteers, Waxman said.
