Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Shoreline Clean Up
I am a high school student from Richmond Secondary School. I organized a volunteer club called Colts That Care. Colts That Care is a very active club that goes around the school and the community to help out whenever we are needed. As an active member of Green Club as well, I kept close ties between the two clubs. Green club was organizing an annual shoreline clean up in hope of rebuilding the environmental of our community. As the leader of Colts That Care, I really share the cause as well so I introduced the event to my club members. I organized around forty people and joined twenty others from Green Club on the day of the clean up on the dykes near No.3 Road in Richmond.
The dyke was really long and it was impossible for us to clean all of it, so we decided to work with part of it. We divided the dyke into 13 sections thatâ€™s 300 meters long each approximately. Then we grouped ourselves into groups of four and each group is assigned a section and given a big garbage bag, a few pairs of gloves, a pencil and a piece of paper to record what we picked up. We worked in our small groups for around two hours on the section that we are assigned. My group picked up a surprising number of cigarette butts, some candy wrappers, tin cans bottles etc. Every groupâ€™s garbage bag is really heavy after we met up which made me feel fulfilled and accomplished.
It is important to take care of the dyke that we went to for numerous reasons. First of all, the dyke was really long and rocky and itâ€™s full of logs; it would be very hard for a small number of environmental workers to clean the dyke carefully every day. With our help, cleaning the dyke was fast and effective. Moreover, the dyke is a natural habitat for wildlife and other living organisms. Dropping litter and destroying their habitats endangers their chance of survival. Protecting the organisms in our community is not a negligible matter. Furthermore, keeping our environment clean and without pollution can benefit everyone in society by beautifying their view so they can enjoy the nature instead of the litter when they come to the dykes. Also, many people around the neighborhood were walking by and saw our effort. We took some chances to introduce our project and spread awareness in the community.
This project was a significant event in my life. During the shoreline clean up, I realized the significance of not dropping litter around my neighborhood and everyone should take actions in order to keep our environment as clean as possible. Moreover, there are things that we can do to give back to our community and our mother earth. This shoreline clean up reminds me of how important it is to stay green and try our best to reduce polluting the environment around us and indirectly harming ourselves as well. It makes me feel great about myself knowing that my effort is greatly appreciated by all the living organisms around the dyke and Iâ€™m doing something very meaningful with my life. This serves as a motivation for me to come back soon and clean up other parts of the dyke as well. Moreover, I am inspired tremendously by this project that I feel the importance of talking about it with others to spread to awareness. It made me work even harder in organizing other green events and getting more people to share the cause. Furthermore, it altered my life to such a large extent that I started looking into other environmental issues that I can contribute to and help with in my community. For example, as a member of green club, we decided to run a composting campaign which was unheard of before in our school. And I wrote a letter to the manager of my apartment requesting the establishment a composting bin. This experience taught me that no matter what, the litters around the neighborhood will never be mine and all of us can contribute to the social and environmental well-beings of our community.