merrygolds
Registered: December 2007
Posts: 1
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Turn on the news, and you’ll see it. Get a newspaper, and you’ll read it. There are so many environmental issues today that it is hard to believe most of us still haven’t taken any action. I once asked my brother what he thought about the dumping of computer waste in Asia. He replied with a shrug and said, "It’s going to go away somehow." Somehow? After browsing the web for information on ways to help the declining environment, I stumbled upon the Nicodemus Wilderness Project website. There, I learned of the Apprentice Ecologist™ Project. Inspired by the countless essays showing dedication to helping the environmental cause, I decided to start my own cleanup project. On a gloomy Saturday afternoon, my brother and I went to Lake Cunningham Regional Park in San Jose on a mission—to pick up as much trash as we could to help out the beautiful wildlife that lives there. Our small project not only opened our eyes to the dangers of littering, it also helped us to believe that, with a little effort, people can peacefully coexist with wildlife.
Every Saturday, I volunteer at a half acre California Native Garden and nursery inside Lake Cunningham Regional Park. This Saturday was different, however. It wasn’t a workday because of winter vacation. With nothing to do, I took a little walk in my backyard. My walk was quite pleasant until I encountered a ghastly sight—it was a pile of uneaten chocolate chip cookies on top of what looked like an opened package of Thousand Layers Cookies. "Geez, why does he buy them if he’s just going to throw them away?" I thought as I threw the mess into a waste bin. "I’m so going to tell Mom…" Then it hit me—now’s the perfect time to conduct my cleanup project! After dragging my brother away from his computer, I got several used shopping bags, water, and gloves. Then, we were off to the park.
When we arrived, we saw two park maintenance workers following a large truck in the distance. They had what looked like buckets in their hands and appeared to be collecting trash. My brother was disappointed, but I was actually relieved—the less litter, the better. Nevertheless, I told my brother that there was definitely litter out there; we just had to look hard enough and we would find some.
We walked around the native garden, picking up mostly candy wrappers and a few empty coffee cups. When I walked along the trail next to the lake, I was able to see a variety of birds, some I had never seen before. There were black ducks wading near the shore and seagulls flying in the air. A white pelican swam across the lake in search of fish. I was a bit startled when I saw it—I never knew pelicans could be so huge! Perhaps the most interesting bird I saw was a beautiful white and grey egret, perched on a rock. I had never seen one before except in books. It was so close that I wanted to take a picture of it. Unfortunately, it flew away before I had the chance to get out my camera. As I headed back to the garden, the birds still on my mind, a small, brown squirrel crossed my path. It quickly ran to the edge of the lake to take a sip of water. As it was drinking, I noticed a bag of chips floating around. I was disgusted to think that there was garbage in a place where animals eat and drink. Sad to say, the bag was too far away to reach and it was prohibited to go into the lake.
After meeting at the native garden, my brother and I combined our collection—it filled a little over three quarters of a bag. My brother suggested that we search in other places in the park; so we went to the picnic areas. Along the way, we managed to find a bunch of scrunched up papers. When we went alongside Silver Creek, we saw an awful amount of trash collected on the edge. I wanted to go down there and clean it up, but the soil was wet and slippery. Since it was too dangerous, I decided to notify park maintenance when I got home. When I continued walking, I spotted a heap of broken ice cream cones and an ice cream wrapper. This reminded me of the mess I saw in my backyard. I was able to get the wrapper but left the ice cream cones alone since they were biodegradable—and surrounded by fierce-looking wasps.
As we went further, we came across an area that had many cigarette butts—some of them seemed new and still had a strong smell—and bottle caps littered on the ground. The bottle caps were particularly troublesome to pick up as they were embedded in the soil. No one wants to sit down to eat around an area of a park used for an ashtray; and, the metal bottle caps could cut a child playing. As I watched young children play soccer, I felt that all that effort picking up cigarette butts and bottle caps was worth it.
It was going to rain again soon, so my mother told my brother and me that we had to return home. Whilst walking back to the car, my brother complained that we ended up not finding much litter. I reminded him that there were many garbage cans in the area. On the drive home, my brother apologized for leaving a mess in the backyard and said he’d never do it again. I smiled.
Looking back at our cleanup, I would say it was a valuable experience for my brother and me. I was impressed by the number of garbage cans in Lake Cunningham Regional Park. Despite this, I still feel that more can be done to ensure a safe environment for the wildlife. My brother and I couldn’t find many large pieces of trash, but we did come across a bunch of small objects. Since many of the animals that live in the park are small, these objects can be very hazardous. For example, the cigarette butts are choking hazards, especially to fish and birds. In order for our cleanup to have long-lasting significance, with the help of the park staff, I want to post flyers regarding effects of littering. Litter bugs need to "put trash in its place."
I am grateful that I found out about the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative™. My brother developed a greater understanding of the importance of environmental cleanup—he went from a being an adolescent who littered in his own backyard, to one who was willing to spend his Saturday afternoon picking up other people’s trash. As for me, the project boosted my self-confidence and strengthened my interest in environmental science. I hope that many others will decide to start their own cleanup projects. Litter is dangerous to wildlife for many reasons including strangulation, ingestion causing starvation, and entanglements. No matter what your age is, we can all make a difference in our environment by picking up litter.
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