Saving the environment one pound of waste at a time
As a community service project, a group of students traveled to Great Bay in New Hampshire to clean up some of the surrounding area. We were split into a few groups and scattered over the area. We all picked up trash and other objects that were not meant to be left in the bay. Many different things were found, like tires, plywood, barrels, and your basic plastic wrappers and bottles. The things we found were checked off on a sheet of paper and categorized. Luckily, we didn't find anything too disgusting, like diapers or personal hygiene products (really, they had the check boxes for it).
Over the course of the day we picked up about 300 pounds of trash, which is a huge amount. Surprisingly, we were told that even 300 pounds of trash was a small amount compared to previous years. As it turns out, this wasn't just a solitary project, it was International Coastal Cleanup day. People from all over the country went to different coastlines to pick up trash and garbage in the area. Lakes, rivers, bays, and oceans were all fair game in this day of environment saving. According to their website, International Coastal Cleanup day is the “largest single-day volunteer effort to improve the health of the ocean and its wildlife.” The organization collects all of the recorded data and compiles it to see what types of trash are the most popular, and what they can do to help prevent further littering.
Overall it was a very fulfilling experience, even if it was a little bit of hard work. I felt tremendous knowing I had helped save a little section of the planet, and that the wildlife in the area wouldn't have to deal with human waste in their habitats. It's an annual event, So you can participate more than once. They are always accepting new volunteers so feel free to ask about it the next time it comes around. You'll feel good afterwards knowing you have helped save the environment, what more could you want!
