Like mentioned in many of my previous blogs, Mai and I’s major challenge in this project was coordinating our times so we can go out to pick up garbage. At first we were stuck in a loop where we tried to text each other all the time, but there never seemed to be a time that worked. As a solution to that, we decided to text each other more often and updated each other at the beginning of the week of our coming up schedules. Since both our work and extracurriculars have the same schedule once we are informed at the beginning of the week, we were able to move our availabilities around and plan around our times. By the end of the semester, Mai and I were able to meet three times; we went to Town Centre Park, my neighbourhood, and the Eagle Ridge Elementary / Scott Creek Middle School area.
Previously, I thought that most people were aware of the issue of littering, as this issue had been existing for a significant amount of time. It is also very common to see signs and posts about littering around us and on social media. However, every time we went to pick up garbage, we were actually able to pick up a large amount in all three types of locations – more than we had expected. I feel a common mindset people have is that just “one piece” is not going to have a huge impact. However, if the majority thinks this way, it becomes a problem. This made me realize there are much more we need to do in order to truly alleviate this problem. For instance, potentially having more garbage cans out on the side walks will help, as people will have places to throw their garbage as they walk. Or, maybe replacing closed-lid metal trash cans with open-top trashcans at parks will be beneficial, as many people are uncomfortable to put their hand in to open the lid.
This action allowed me to see, realistically, what the situation with littering is like in Coquitlam, rather than just the idealistic expectations I had in my head. In the future, I will be more aware to throw my garbage in the right trash cans, or keep them until I get home. Moreover, if I see others around me littering, I can remind them to not do so.
Our original intention with this project was to help improve our community to the best of our abilities, and I think we were successful in doing so. In our garbage pick-up runs, we were able to pick up many pieces of garbage as we walked, and on our way back, we could see the sidewalks were significantly cleaner. By completing our project, we were able to help improve our community through cleaning up litter in local areas. Furthermore, our project may have acted as a positive example for children. Because we went after school for our litter pick ups, there were many children out. As a result, they may have seen us and potentially wanted to complete similar acts to improve the environment, or were simply reminded to throw their garbage in the trash can.
