By Kendra Pell | Reporter
Not only is Baylor’s Sustainability Department successfully implementing ways to make Baylor more green-oriented, students are also working to make a difference in the environment around the Waco community by adopting two parks in Cameron Park beginning this month through October 2017.
Houston senior Mark McComb, president of the Sustainability Student Advisory Board, said he is thrilled to team up with Keep Waco Beautiful and its Adopt-A-Spot program for this new project.
“We picked two places within Cameron Park that are pretty visible: Miss Nellie’s Pretty Place and Anniversary Park, which includes the clubhouse area,” McComb said.
According to Keep Waco Beautiful’s Adopt-A-Spot program, different organizations or groups are able to adopt an area to keep up the cleanliness and appearance of that particular place within the Waco community.
“The purpose of the board adopting these parks is to clean them up four times a year, as well as plant trees or put in a new garden if we want with the approval of Waco Parks and Recreation and the city of Waco,” McComb said.
Houston sophomore Jenny Fox, event coordinator for the Sustainability Student Advisory Board, said she is also excited to help maintain these two areas of Cameron Park.
“We have volunteered with Keep Waco Beautiful before, but we’ve never adopted a park or have committed ourselves to one project,” Fox said.
McComb said the Bearathon runs through Anniversary Park, and a triathlon runs through Miss Nellie’s Pretty Place, so the organizers of these events will let the Sustainability Student Advisory Board know when to make sure these parks are in good condition. The board will also work with Greek organizations if they want to use the park’s clubhouse to host social events.
“The purpose of this is to clean up the area and make it pretty for them when they are all there to enjoy it,” Fox said.
McComb and Fox said that along with keeping up with the adopted parks, the Sustainability Student Advisory board recently volunteered for National Public Lands Day, where they renovated a different park area and entrance to a hiking trail that goes over a dam.
The objective of the Sustainability Student Advisory Board is to give Baylor students an opportunity to be a part of the sustainability efforts on campus by offering suggestions for improvement from a student’s perspective and to encourage respect for the environment, according to Baylor Sustainability’s website.
For more information on what the Sustainability Department and the Sustainability Student Advisory board is up to, and how to get involved, visit Baylor Sustainability or @osogreen on Twitter and Instagram for news and updates.
