The Green Ambassadors at Georgia Southern University spent the weekend of March 31 cleaning up the beaches of Tybee Island.

The student organization took part in the cleanup not only for environmental reasons, but to reach out to new Eagles from the Armstrong campus as well, Sidney Drawdy, Green Ambassadors vice president said via email.

“We reached out to Armstrong’s green group called Go Green Armstrong in collaboration to help bridge the gaps between campus and build relationships,” Drawdy said. “It is important to us to be able to interact with our Eagles near and far.”

The cleanup project had 12 Green Ambassadors and four GoGreen Armstrong members.

The organization has been preparing for the event all semester by collecting buckets to use as litter receptacles and requesting funding from the Student Government Association to get litter pick-up sticks and gloves.

Most of the trash the project members collected is preventable, Drawdy said.

“We had members find dip cans, clothes hangers, a huge pair of underwear, socks missing their other halves, hats and more cigarettes than we ever knew existed,” Drawdy said. “You name it, we found it. It’s so sad to see how much we collected, but even sadder when we saw what we collected.”

The trash collected from the beach is taken to the Marine Science Center on Tybee and sorted. Out of the trash collected 80 percent was recyclable, Drawdy said.

Drawdy said that litter can effect beach-goers and especially the wildlife.

“Sea turtles, seals, and dolphins have been known to starve to death when muzzled or ingesting plastics,” Drawdy said. “People can even be injured by stepping on broken glass bottles or cutting themselves on bottle caps or cans. We want to make a difference.”

The Green Ambassadors have plans to take at least three trips to Tybee over the summer when the crowds and, unfortunately, the litter haul is larger.

Shiann Sivell, Daily Reporter, ganewsed@georgiasouthern.edu