Why I Pick Up Trash, And Why You Should Too
Are you looking for an easy eco-challenge to take on? The first challenge I took on when I decided to start this eco journey was to pick up at least one piece of trash every day for 30 days. It barely takes any effort at all (the hardest part is just getting out of the house), but it can lead to big positive effects on your life!
For starters, just getting outside and spending some time away from a screen can be a peaceful, therapeutic benefit in itself. In my case, I already have a good reason to get out the door daily: my dog, Manoa.
I take her for a walk through the neighborhood, to the river, or to the local park every day, so there was no shortage of trash for me to pick up. Also, to force myself not to miss a day, I added an additional challenge: log the trash I pick up on Instagram.
However, while doing the challenge and posting for all my friends to see, a friend asked me, “Why do you bother picking up trash? You’ll never pick up enough to really change anything.”
….and he was right. I could spend the rest of my life picking up trash and not pick up 1% of the trash on Earth. I probably couldn’t even get 1% of the trash here in Japan alone.
But I don’t pick up trash just to pick up trash. I pick up trash to challenge myself to think differently. To think more mindfully about the environment and the betterment of this world.
By challenging and changing my own standards.
After a while, picking up trash becomes my new “normal.” It becomes easy. Natural.
And once that happens, and I realize, “Hey…That wasn’t so hard…I wonder what else I can do to be more eco?”, it grows. It evolves into something bigger. And, if I can get a few people to follow me along the way, and those few people also get a few more people to follow them, it starts a chain reaction, like dominoes. It creates a mini-movement. A whole group of people dedicated to evolving and fighting to change for the better. The betterment of themselves and of the planet.
We have to challenge ourselves to be better. Not because it’s easy, but because we’re the only living things that have done this much damage to the planet so it is our responsibility to. If you’ve ever used a product made of plastic…If you’ve ever ridden in a car…If you’ve ever eaten meat…You’ve caused damage to this planet. And that’s okay. I have too. And we will continue to. But if we accept that as our “normal”, without challenging ourselves to be better, then we’ve doomed the world, as well as ourselves, to a future most likely not worth living. We have the power to change this world on a massive scale. We know this as a fact. We’ve seen it with climate change. Humans can change the world. We can choose whether our impact on this world will be for better, or for worse. Choose which one yours will be!
And THAT is why I pick up trash.
And why you should too.
What kind of eco challenges have you taken on in your life? Do you ever have trouble starting them? What do you value about the environment and what do you think you could do to improve it? Let me know in the comments below!