1) So far, I have completed two nature clean-ups along with my other group members: Dorra J and Chantal M. We went to a little neighborhood park near Eagleridge pool and then we cleaned up Scott Creek’s school ground. At both locations, we tried to pick up every piece of garbage that we saw in the main areas as well as trash hidden in the bushes, or that was hard to spot. Our clean-up lasted about an hour in a half and we counted 97 pieces of trash that we cleaned up. This being our second clean-up, we were more comfortable doing this action and spotting garbage or knowing where to look for it. I anticipate more nature clean-ups along with my group and to make an even greater difference!
2) Our greatest success was how much trash we picked up at both the school and the park. In only about an hour and a half we picked up 97 pieces of trash. Although this may seem like a small number we picked up various sizes of trash such as little cigarette buds, paper cups from 711 or big pieces of fast food packaging, which made an impact in our environment. The park and the school were also very well kept so there was little to no trash in the main areas, however in covered areas such bushes or small ditches there was a lot more garbage. An example of this would be at the park when we looked into the bushes and found lots of fast food packaging, candy wrappers, plastic and paper cups and plastic waterbottles. Therefore, we cleaned-up more pieces of trash then it seems because only the big pieces of trash filled up the garbage bag compared to the smaller pieces.
Our second biggest success was being able to plan a date where we all got together to do another clean-up. We each have different classes, extra curriculars and responsibilities at home so even only an hour and a half our our time is hard to schedule. For example both nature clean-ups have happened after me and Chantal’s executive meeting for our club. Meaning that Dorra has to wait for it to finish before we can start. However, we managed to find a date where we could meet up and complete another clean-up. I hope that with my group we continue to find more days we can meet up and do another nature clean-up to help our environment and our community.
3) Our biggest challenges with this action continues to be the weather and scheduling. There have been times we have planned to do another nature clean-up but it was cancelled due to the rain or cold weather. Not only that but in this season the sun goes down faster, so it gets darker quicker as well. This becomes a problem because if it’s too cold and too wet the garbage soaks and is harder to pick up, our hands get cold and our backpacks or clothes get wet easier. Since it gets darker quicker, it makes it harder to see garbage compared to with light. To solve these problems, we use a flashlight when it gets dark and we reschedule or pick a day where the weather is going to be better and less cold. Scheduling has always been a complication for us because we each have very different lives. We each have after school activities or clubs, responsibilities at home and jobs. Yet, wether or not we had to cancel or reschedule many times we always manage to find a time where we can meet up.
Our second greatest challenge was figuring out where we were going to clean up. The problem is our community is very clean and it seems as if other people do nature clean-ups as well. Therefore, finding a location that needs a clean-up or actually has trash is hard to find. The other problem is getting to that location. Since we use public transportation to get us where we need to go, we must not go too far where we do not know how to get home or where we get home late because we also need time to complete homework and other responsibilities. However, we always manage to find a nearby park that we know how to get to, and get back home from, which also has enough garbage to clean up or that needs a clean up.
4.) Next in our plan will be to do another cleanup this following week at a different park or location. We will try to switch our parks every two weeks, in order to cleanup many different locations and make a bigger impact. However, our plan towards the locations may change due to the amount of garbage it has, or if a different location needs more of a clean up compared to the other. We plan to do by-weekly clean ups and we hope to clean up a total of 5 different locations and we hope to achieve it. I’m excited for my group and I to continue making an impact in our environment!
Hey Itzel! I love that you are doing this for your action post and cleaning up our environment. More people should be doing this! Every little thing helps and if we don’t start doing something now it will be too late. I loved hearing about your experience of cleaning up locally! I can’t wait to follow along the next week and see where you went next! Good luck!
Hello Itzel, the work that you have done is very impressive, helping to pick up trash at community areas will certainly help with both the appearance of our community and help to keep the earth a clean home for us! Keep up the great work! Good luck!