Do more than belong: participate.  Do more than care: help.  Do more than believe: practice.  Do more than be fair: be kind.  Do more than forgive: forget.  Do more than dream: work. -William Arthur Ward

Earlier this week as Georgia and I were walking/bike riding to school through one of our local parks, and I thought to myself,  “Enough is enough!”  After what felt like weeks of walking past unsightly refuse, I decided we needed to do something about it.  The same pile of trash remained in a spot behind one of the baseball dugouts.  A pillow that had seen better days, empty beer cans,  food wrappers, and a gathering of rejected clothing were not going anywhere.

It was time, especially since it seemed like a trend was happening.  Others were joining in on the carelessness.  Maybe it was just my imagination.  But it seemed like there was more “accidental” garbage (Gatorade bottles and other snack packaging) than usual.  Maybe the belief was, “No one else seems to be bothered by this trash, so I won’t worry about it either.”

I quickly sent a text off to Slaed, and made a plan to come and clean up the park after work and school.  There was no use in complaining, and no point in blaming one person (or group) or another.  Before heading out on our usual family walk in the afternoon, we grabbed the biggest trash bag we could find, made sure everyone had gloves, and grabbed our trusty trash picker-upper. We then got to work picking up as much trash as we could.

Our main focus was that large pile I talked about earlier, but we also found plenty of waste along the way.  It’s amazing how many little bits of trash you can find when you are really looking.  It can actually be overwhelming at times!

Coincidentally, as soon as the bag started getting too heavy (and was threatening to leak and rip), we’d made it to one of the kids’ go-to playgrounds.  While we hadn’t planned on stopping, it served as a reward for their hard work, and just seemed like the next right thing to do.

Georgia and I were back at the park this morning and it felt good seeing the green grass shining through.  We use the park several times a week.  It’s fitting that we take the time regularly to help keep the place looking it’s best.

With our busy crew, the simpler, the better.  I love how we were able to work service into our everyday routine.  With Earth Day (April 22, 2019) coming up, besides just creating your own trash pick-up walk, there are formal events happening all over the United States. The Earth Day Network has a list of events categorized by city if you need a starting point or ideas!

For even more inspiration, head to one of our oldie, but goodie posts all about trash pick-up walks! Wondering about the Spring Bucket List that I refer to in the title? Each season, we create a list of 10 (or so) fun adventures or projects (usually specific to the season).  As we work through the list, and make progress, we’ll share our experiences here on the blog. Join us, by creating your own, and please share!

Do you have Earth Day plans? We’d love to chat more in the comments!

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