Ohio University’s Bobcat Blasters, an organization that hosts outdoor Nerf battles, has continued to face criticism for failing to clean up Nerf darts on campus lawns and waterways after its events.
Bobcat Blasters hosts several Nerf events throughout the school year, with the most recent event being Feb. 21-22.
While the club does have measures in place to clean up after events, students and grounds maintenance workers have reported finding darts in lawns, drains and creeks around campus.
Since the fall of 2024, OU’s Office of Sustainability has confronted the organization about the issue; however, the OU grounds managers and students have still reported seeing darts left over after the most recent Nerf battle.
Sam Crowl, OU’s director of sustainability, said the plastic darts face a major pollution issue when they get into drains and creeks leading to the Hocking River. Crowl said the darts also become more challenging to clean as they are mowed into smaller pieces.
The sustainability issue was initially brought to the city by several concerned students, including Roman Kimball, a sophomore studying environmental science and sustainability.
Kimball reported seeing small pieces of rainbow darts in the creek by Emeriti Park. After following the creek toward Baker Center, Kimball said he found a large pile of darts.
“I found a bunch of Nerf bullets (down the creek) in the water by the drain and stuck in trees and stuff,” Kimball said. “It was just not good.”
Kimball said he continued to see darts around campus for weeks to months after the event, from the fall until December.
Since then, Bobcat Blasters has taken action to reduce the number of darts left on campus with more enforcement of several clean-up policies.
The club now completes dart sweeps the day after an event, where the group will split up and pick up darts and dart retrieval as the group moves along during the games.
Since receiving backlash from members of the Recycling Club and the most recent interaction with the Office of Sustainability, Bobcat Blasters has been trying to raise funds from OU Student Senate through the Senate Appropriations Commission to help with dart retrieval and purchasing of biodegradable darts.
The club is also interested in reducing the number of darts left behind by purchasing fabric clothes hampers to hold the darts and grabber tools to remove them from hard-to-reach places, such as shrubs.
However, due to issues with SAC funding, Bobcat Blasters is looking into other ways to raise money so the organization can be more sustainable.
Travis Post, OU’s grounds services manager, said there has been a significant decrease in the number of leftover darts since the last Bobcat Blasters event, but there is still progress to be made.
“They’re unsightly, just like any litter on campus,” Post said. “I would say that from the February (event), the numbers (of darts) that we see did decrease from the past… But, I would like to see less of them or none at all.”
Post also explained that picking up the darts often falls on the groundskeepers.
“The majority of (groundskeepers) will take it upon themselves to bag them up,” Post said. “They recognize that these could be reused, so they bag them up on their own, and they’ll donate them to Goodwill.”
Post also recommended that all outdoor clubs should meet with grounds management regularly to discuss how they can be more respectful of the Athens and OU landscape.
"Just clean up after yourself,” Post said. “Be respectful to our campus and help do your part to make Athens and OU beautiful.”
