The city of Norman is hosting multiple volunteer events this fall to help educate the community on environmental sustainability and organize cleanup efforts for local outdoor spaces.
These efforts are organized by the Division of Environmental Resilience and Sustainability, acronymed the “DoERs,” typically during the fall and spring seasons for pleasant weather, focusing on watersheds, parks and lakes around Norman.
Michelle Chao, environmental programs supervisor for the city of Norman, helped organize these events. Chao said the events help beautify the area and support the health of the animal population.
“Not to call out people's litter, but trash just happens, right? It's windy in the state. Trash can get blown over, so it's just going to happen out there. And there are a lot of negative impacts that it has on wildlife,” Chao said. “We've all kind of seen the turtle that has that soda can wrapped around it. It can be really detrimental, not just for the way that they grow, but sometimes it gets mistaken for food. Animals might eat it, and they'll get sick that way.”
Chao said regardless of whether community members enjoy the outdoors or not, caring for the environment is a necessary task.
“We all live in the environment, right? No matter what, we might not like being outside, but we're still part of the environment. That's just sort of an unavoidable aspect of life,” Chao said. “For me, I think it's just really important to take care of it, not just for us, but for future generations, and making sure that we'll have clean water and a clean environment for birds, animals and fish, etc., for our future generations to enjoy.”
The events are often collaborations with the Parks and Recreation Department, WildCare, or the Conservation Commission to bring an educational aspect to the cleanup effort.
According to Chao, the education segment isn’t just to teach residents about the environment that they are in, but to show them what Norman has to offer and how it can help them foster their own outdoor spaces.
“It’s not just education. I think it’s also just seeing we have all these resources. We've got 50, 60 parks just in Norman, so there are a lot of places that you can just kind of go and recreate,” Chao said. “But also, everybody has a tree at home, and I think a lot of people think, well, this tree's been here for a while, it's probably fine. But there are a lot of little nuances that go into making sure that the tree stays healthy.”
These cleanup events typically have a good volunteer turnout and remove thousands of pounds of trash each year, according to Chao.
More info is available on the Green Norman page, where the DoERS share upcoming activities, ways to get involved with outreach and teach the community about environmental sustainability.
Upcoming Events:
•Watershed cleanup at Ruby Grant Park, Sept. 19 from 9 to 11 a.m.
•Sutton Wilderness Park workshop and cleanup at Sutton Wilderness Park, Oct. 17 from 9 to 11 a.m.
•Lake Thunderbird workshop and cleanup at Lake Thunderbird Boathouse, Oct. 25 from 1 to 4 p.m.
•Watershed cleanup at Colonial Estates Park, Nov. 7 from 9 to 11 a.m.
This story was edited by Spencer Windholz. Kylie Caldwell and Tori Pham copy edited this story.
