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NWP Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists - Ossining, New York, USA

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Ossining, New York, USA
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suzanne3mc



Registered: December 2008
Posts: 1
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At my local high school, Ossining High School, there is a club called the Environmental Club. I am a member of this club, which provides projects of environmental service to the local community of Ossining. One such project was called Cleanup Day that I came up with. It was a great effort to clean up an area that was desperately needed.
On a Saturday morning in May I awoke early as many of my friends did and we met at our local train station in Ossining where the Hudson River lies. We would start early at our 8:00 am and finish our 1:00pm. The day was all about cleaning up the river and the beach and walk around it. By the end of the day we had bags full of garbage, anywhere from clothes, to tires, to chains, to CD's. We found things that would be usually unimaginable. It seemed at first that we couldn’t make a difference because of all that was needed to be cleaned up, it seemed that the Hudson River and beach near it seemed to hold years of garbage, that was just piling up from day to day. But as more and more students seemed to show up and provide a hand it then finally seemed that we could get a lot accomplished and actually make a difference where at first it seemed slim. The more junk and garbage that we collected the more it seemed that the river and the area around it was getting more clean.
To actual make an environmental stewardship project is one thing but to make a project and accomplish what you wanted to is another thing. It was great that this project was such a success, but it couldn’t have been done without the members of the club and the students who came to help and make a difference. One of the best things to see was the difference form 8:00 in the morning to 1:00 in the afternoon, the amount of garbage bags we had were just unbelievable, they were just piled high on each other. It was really amazing to know we had collected all this garbage, just that made it just that cleaner. The feeling you get at the end of the day is just a feeling you can’t feel anywhere else, it’s knowing you made a difference. It’s a feeling know one else can get if you don’t go out of your regular daily basis and go beyond your comfort zone.
Of course having the Hudson River in Ossining spotless is extremely hard to get if impossible. The River is bringing garbage from local towns up and down the river too, and as everyone knows the Hudson River is not the cleanest river in the world. The closest and most effective solution to having a long-term solution here in our town would just be having this club keep this day every year, the club could even add more of these days throughout the year to keep the river as clean as possible. If this is not done the area where we cleaned, the Hudson River will get more and dirtier every year. If we can do our part and clean as much as possible, the river will be just that cleaner. A little difference can make the end solution even closer. Though the Hudson is huge, doing our part is all we can do. Cleaning the Hudson can save more animals lives, more fish and creatures will stay healthy and be able to live and reproduce and keep our ecology system going.
Completing this project was unlike anything else and thanks to the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative; more children around the world are making a difference. Children can see others doing such projects and soon head up the same project or get a new idea to do. This initiative is one of a kind and will help the world and environment become a better place to live in.
· Date: December 30, 2008 · Views: 6486 · File size: 19.3kb, 89.3kb · : 604 x 453 ·
Hours Volunteered: 25
Volunteers: 38
Authors Age & Age Range of Volunteers: 14 to 19
Area Restored for Native Wildlife (hectares): 80
Trash Removed/Recycled from Environment (kg): 270
Native Trees Planted: 3
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