Cougar Pride Days for 2009 will include inside cleaning and “tidying up” projects on the WSU Pullman campus and stream cleanup and vegetation pruning in the City of Pullman. The eighth annual event takes place April 6-12.
Due to WSU budget cuts, the focus on campus will be on inside cleaning instead of working outside on campus grounds, said Pam Hilliard, Cougar Pride Days committee chair. She said approved campus projects include:
* cleaning offices and shared spaces such as hallways, break rooms and lounges. Because of sensitivity to chemical cleaning products, all those inside cleaning and dusting should use plain water, she said.
* purging and shredding of old paper files. WSU Recycling has a limited number of locking recycling bins available for confidential documents to be shredded.
* picking up outside litter/trash. WSU Central Stores will check out litter “picker-upper” tools and it sells 33- and 55-gallon plastic trash bags. Collected trash should be placed in dumpsters for disposal.
For the City of Pullman, committee member Merlene Greenway of Pullman Parks & Recreation, said efforts will include:
* Pullman stream cleanup, an annual City of Pullman Cougar Pride Days event since 2005. Organized by the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, it will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m., April 11, starting at Spring Street Park near the Reaney Park entrance. Trash will be collected along the Palouse River bank. Equipment and supplies, lunch and beverages will be provided for volunteers.
* Overhanging vegetation pruning weekend, April 10-12. Pullman homeowners who clear sidewalks and adjacent streets may put collected vegetation in dumpsters at McGee and Sunnyside parks and Pullman Aquatic & Fitness and Pioneer centers.
Hilliard said those taking part in Cougar Pride Days are encouraged to hold a canned food drive and donate collections to the Pullman Food Bank or other non-profits groups and to celebrate efforts with potlucks and barbecues.
For more information, visit cougarpridedays.wsu.edu or contact Hilliard with WSU at 335-9024 and Greenway with the city at 338-3228.
