Twelve members of student environmental groups were up early on Saturday morning, wading through muddy puddles on south campus to gather garbage on their day off.

Sponsored by the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH), Saturday's event echoed the fall quarter clean up on north campus, which was attended by about 40 students and headed by Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED).

"One of our goals this year is to get NRHH more involved," said sophomore Sandy Dewan, one of four NRHH executive board members. "It is an original way to get the word out to people and to clean up the environment."

Saturday's group gathered about 12 bags of garbage in three hours. The event ended in a pancake feed --- a reward for the students' hard work.

Of those participating in the event were student members of NRHH, SEED, and the Residence Hall Student Association, including RHSA President Lee Dunbar.

"Why do we have a car battery back here?" said Kelly Ronan, executive board member of NRHH, while searching through the bushes. The students found a bleach bottle, couch cushion, car battery and a six-pack of beer around the south campus dorms.

With Earth Day on Friday the groups' act of environmental conservation was well-timed. SEED has been involved in other enviro-friendly projects such as paper and ink cartridge recycling promotion campaigns, both of which are taking place in the residence halls.

"We want to make students more aware and make programs more available," said Gretchen Olson, SEED publicity coordinator.