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Environmental Club cleans up

Members of UH’s Environmental Club spent Saturday morning rebuilding paths and restoring grounds of a 155-acre urban wildlife sanctuary that suffered destruction from Hurricane Ike.

Reopening the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, which is nestled next to Houston’s Memorial Park, is important to the club, members said. The park is a hidden sanctuary only four miles from downtown and supplies the kind of education and awareness that the club promotes.

"We try to make people more aware of nature and how to take care of it," psychology junior and secretary for the club Sara England said. "After Ike, we had a lot of mess here. The arboretum is basically just let loose. They don’t do anything to it. A place like this, it’s always good for people to come here and do things like this."

The non-profit center was grateful for the extra bodies and support, Facilities Manager Jim Crabb said.

"We need a lot of hands to get all this work done, so that’s a great help right there. Just having the extra hands lifting and toting, and pulling and shoveling," he said.

Club Historian Mariana Guerrero, a biology and French senior, said she knows the importance of being active for a cause.

"It is necessary that we be proactive about taking care of our environment, and our planet and nature. That students can make a difference volunteering and helping others become more aware that they need to recycle, that they need to conserve, and slowly we can make a difference," Guerrero said.

The club, founded in January, is not only helping with recovery operations, but is also trying to establish a "think green" way of life at UH.

"We’re promoting recycling on campus and we’re trying to increase the number of recycling bins," psychology senior and campaigns director Larissa Gonzalez said. "I grew up around nature and I totally respect it. The more greener spaces the better."

Members for the club may not be in perfect agreement of exactly what is affecting the environment, but they all believe it is important for the public to be aware of and actively react to environmental issues.

"I don’t believe in global warming. If it’s caused by man, it’s not that bad," biology senior Scott Allen said.

But he said he still believes in doing his part to help maintain a healthy environment.

"It’s important to conserve and, you know, protect what’s here. We’re part of the environment too," Allen said.

For more information about the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, call (713) 366-0375 or visit www.houstonaboretum.org.

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