For my outreach project, I worked with the Rivers Alive watershed cleanup group at the MLK Greenway site. We spent the morning cleaning up trash on the side of the river.
By noon, we had around 20 full trash bags, and there was not any trash in path of the trail afterwards. This gave me hope in outreach projects like this, and the idea that we can reverse the damage we have done to the environment. Additionally, the fact that there were enthusiastic families participating together gave a sense of community and an inspiration to do similar projects with my family in the future.
I was most surprised when the volunteer who led our group told us about how most of the trash built up. Erosion from the soil on the sides has caused the bottom of even shallow parts of the river to become obscured, and so the government encouraged people to lay trash along the banks to prevent further erosion. This did not truly help the issue (the water is still opaque), and it clearly added the issue of trash buildup and environmental degradation.
Below are pictures I took of the trash from our materialistic culture against the background of what should be pure nature. This juxtaposition highlights the uncomfortable aspect that littering introduces to the environment.
