When UF graduate student Mirsada Serdarevic was walking on Gale Lemerand Drive, she noticed a substantial amount of trash in a creek that is home to about three or four gators.
The 26-year-old said she has seen trash in the creek located across the street from the Commuter Lot for about a year, but never noticed how much there was until she saw an innocent gator lying in it.
Serdarevic said she has seen this particular gator, who likes to hang out by the crosswalk, lying in trash multiple times.
“It’s an animal, and I don’t think it should be swimming in debris,” Serdarevic said. “I was just really upset.”
UF is a well-kept campus, Serdarevic said, adding that she rarely sees trash. She thinks the debris in the creek may be because of people trying to get the gator’s attention to take photos by throwing trash at it.
Serdarevic said disrespecting the UF mascot by letting it lie in trash sends a horrible message to the community. She said it is a misrepresentation of our campus and mascot when we allow gators to live in a littered environment.
“It doesn’t paint a very nice picture to see our mascot swimming in trash,” Serdarevic said.
Amy Elliott, a 27-year-old UF pre-doctoral student, said this is an issue that has been upsetting a lot of people who walk by the creek.
“After you walk by it again and again, it’s really something that starts to weigh on you, and you start to really feel for the alligator,” she said.
Not everyone walks by the creek and notices the trash, Elliott said, but this is an issue the whole campus needs to take part in amending.
After doing some research, Elliott said the removal of litter is actually very expensive.
She said UF may not have the funds to remove the litter from the creek, but something can be done to prevent it from continuing.
On her walk from the Commuter Lot to the Health Profession, Nursing, Pharmacy building, which is roughly 10 minutes, Elliott said she only passes by two trash cans.
Elliott said the best way to help eliminate litter in the area is to increase the amount of trash cans on walkways throughout the university or put up signs that prohibit littering.
She said she hopes that by spreading awareness of this issue, more people will realize littering can have devastating effects on wildlife.
“It’s not OK for the alligator, and it shouldn’t be OK for our campus,” Elliott said.
Contact Catie Wegman at cwegman@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter: @catie_wegman
A gator swims in trash in a creek on Gale Lemerand Drive. Mirsada Serdarevic, a 26-year-old UF graduate student, said allowing our school mascot to live in an area with a substantial amount of litter is a disgrace.
