Green Unity hosts first street cleanup for semester

Erica Terrini

News Editor

About 15 student volunteers cleaned up the adopted 100 block of South Pine Street Saturday with the student organization Green Unity.

The Saturday morning cleanup was one of the four opportunities Green Unity will provide this semester for students to collect litter from their two adopted blocks, which were chosen based on student nominations. Green Unity has also adopted the 1100 block of West Grace Street.

Chloe Santulli, a senior history major and Green Unity founder, said she and her co-founders like students to get involved in ways that affect community and student residents.

“Getting them involved is obviously better than just sitting in a meeting and talking about environmental things,” Santulli said. “It’s better to go out into the community and getting students involved in ways that they can see the effects.”

Sagid Elhillali, a senior biomedical engineering major, said he is enrolled in a service learning class that requires students to participate in different community projects.

“Richmond is kind of like our city while we’re here as VCU students,” Elhillali said. “We should do our best to make sure it stays clean and do what ever we can to help out.

Carolina Bartoletti, a senior exercise major and exchange student from Brazil, said she is annoyed by the trash piling up on the streets. She said maintaining a community’s condition is important. She advocates for cleanups in Richmond but said there is a lack of opportunity in Brazil.

“Conditions are pretty much the same all over,” Barotelli said. “I’ve never heard of people getting together to do it. I’ve volunteered but in other places and not in Brazil because I just don’t know of any organizations that do it.”

Santulli said the core objectives of the cleanups and Green Unity is to get more students involved in sustainability and become aware of sustainable practices.

“A lot of people just don’t know about sustainability issues,” Santulli said. “We just want anyone who wants to get involved to be able to. We try not to be political and try to get everyone interested.”