Weekend Warrior

Allen Yuan is Constantly Learning the highs and lows of being an environmentalist. In his four years with the University of Maryland chapter of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), they have achieved record numbers for their weekly campus trash clean-ups, but Yuan often feels like there’s still so much to be done.

“When I went to my first clean-up, it was really fulfilling,” said Yuan, who is a senior Environmental Science & Policy (ENSP) student and the current president of SOA. “Sometimes, it’s not easy being an environmentalist, but this gives me a convenient way. Interacting with people who don’t know a lot about their individual impact and seeing the transformation is a huge point of pride.”

During his time with SOA, an international organization committed to preserving the health of our oceans, Yuan has become the face of the UMD chapter, prominently featured on their social media, often striking a signature selfie pose with the student groups who join for clean-ups, which are aimed at keeping trash out of our local waterways. Attendance has nearly doubled at both weekly meetings and clean-ups. The volume of trash collected has increased, with the group averaging 64.18 pounds of waste per clean-up last spring semester.

“At first, it was mostly just SOA members attending and we would have to contact student groups to participate,” said Yuan. “Now we’re approached by groups for service hours and often have to put a cap on volunteers.”

At a typical weekend clean-up, the day starts with an instructional overview of how to properly sort waste. At the conclusion, collections are weighed and final amounts are sent to the UMD Arboretum & Botanical Garden to report to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

While much of the focus is on the positive impact the group is making, it’s hard to ignore the more unfortunate aspects.

“Undoubtedly the items that we’re most discouraged to find are plastic and foil confetti, which is abundant in the spring for graduation,” said Yuan. “Confetti often finds its way into our local waterways and is challenging to pick up. Many members have voiced how disheartening it is to clean up and we often have to leave some behind.” Despite these challenges, Yuan and company continue their push forward.

“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the constant amount of waste we find but it’s the people that help lift my spirits,” said Yuan. “Volunteers are likely to circulate what they’ve learned among their own personal circles. Some of them even return for additional clean-ups or come to general body meetings, which is a small but important victory.”

by Andrew Muir : Momentum Magazine Winter 2025