So far for my action project, I completed a park clean-up at Mariner Park. I invited my cousin Emaan to join me, and together we spent around two hours walking around the park collecting litter on Tuesday evening.
One success I had with this action project was finding a lot of garbage. Since the park is located next to an elementary school, a lot of younger kids tend to throw their trash on the ground rather than disposing of it properly. Even though this is unfortunate, it gave me a great opportunity to make a noticeable impact. Another success was finding someone to help me. Most of my friends have really busy schedules due to sports, so I was happy that my cousin had time to join me. She made the experience more enjoyable and efficient. Lastly, the weather turned out to be nice that evening as well, so we were able to stay out a bit longer, which is definitely a success.
A challenge I faced was picking up the litter effectively because I was only wearing gloves, and each time I had to bend down to pick up a piece of garbage. I will overcome this next time by remembering to find my trash picker to bring, which is somewhere in my garage. Another challenge was scheduling. Both my cousin and I have busy lives, so coordinating a time was difficult. Next time, I’ll try to plan ahead and make a simple schedule to stay more organized. In the future, if I face the challenge of carrying out this project alone, I will overcome it by following the strategy outlined in Make Your Park Clean-Up a Great Community Event by Park People, which recommends listening to music as a way to stay motivated and make the experience more enjoyable (1).
For the next part of my action project, I plan to do a clean-up at Mundy Park because it’s close to my school and has a lot of space that needs attention. I’m hoping to bring more than one friend to help since there is a lot of ground to cover. I want to invite my friend Chenoa because she lives nearby and is always happy to help. I’ll also try to choose a day when it’s sunny because we have been having good weather lately.
References:
(1): Park People. (n.d.). Make your park clean-up a great community event. Make Your Park Clean-Up a Great Community Event – Park People
