Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

I am a 17 year old girl, who recently graduated from high school. I have a history of volunteerism. I have volunteered at a food bank, at a ministry, at an office, etc. Ever since I was little, I was and am a sensitive person, especially to the environment, and animals. I can only see the environment and animals in an okay state. I help stray animals, I try to pick up any trash I see on the ground, etc. I recently became a vegetarian, for animal rights. Whenever I see trash on the ground, I cannot stay in a happy state. I feel sympathy for the environment, and the living things on the environment. That is why I chose to do an Apprentice Ecologist project on behalf of the Nicodemus Wilderness Project, so that I can help to fix the environment in an area I can do it in. The area I chose to conduct this project in is Gateway Park. This is a huge park that has a few parks inside it, like a park with just grass and a place to run, a child park, a dog park, etc. What I did was I picked up trash/litter on the ground in the park's parking lot and grass area. What I accomplished was I picked up most of all the trash in that area. I think it is important to take care of the area where I conducted my project. A lot of simple litter like cans, food, etc. can make the grass not stay green anymore, dry out, or even start a grass fire. Litter is not healthy for plants trying to grow, birds that try to find food on the grass, etc. Kids, animals, and maybe adults, can pick up the trash innocently and start using it, which is not good and healthy for them. Cars that come in the parking lot's tires can hit the trash, and cause a tire to bust, or any bad situation for the car and the people in the car. There are more reasons, too. That is why I think it is important to take care of that area. My project benefit my community and the environment because now there is no trash/litter to cause any possible problems that I listed above, like the grass, plants, insects, birds, kids, animals, adults, cars, etc. The area is clean. There were a couple of cars when I was doing this initiative, so may be they were inspired to try cleaning up trash/litter on the ground in this area or others, too. The Apprentice Ecologist Project has helped to enrich my life because I have always wanted the enivornment to be untouched and clean, and I helped to make it that way. I got a good feeling inside of me that I did a good deed and I helped the environment, and may be the living things that get affected by the environment. When I was doing the project, I felt not good that why is this trash here in the first place, even when there are trash cans just a few feet away from where they were thrown. Once I started picking up the trash, I felt good and felt like I should keep picking up more and more until the area is clean. This project inspired me to continue to pick up trash/litter in the future, and try to prevent it from happening in the first place. I was very happy to do this project!