For the class project “litter is the enemy” the class was split up into groups. Each of our groups was responsible for picking up litter on the side streets of Elmira around Elmira College. We were each given the challenge of finding the nastiest garbage we could find, and one of the groups certainly accomplished this when they found not only used diapers, but also used condoms within only minutes of leaving the campus.
My group was on a role with finding garbage as well and after only a little while we found a dead bird on the side of the road. We also found loads of empty cigarette packs and other objects like plastic bags and disposable cardboard storage containers that had clearly been pitched out of people’s cars as they were driving. It was sad to see how disrespectful people were treating the environment, but on the other side of things it was nice to have people thank us and be appreciative of our help. One lady stopped and asked if she could take a picture of my group. She said that she thought it was great what we were doing. This type of unity was really special for her to see; especially in the midst of all the racial tension, and lack of unity going on in Baltimore where a young African American male had been killed by police officers.
I really enjoyed doing this activity because it made me feel like I was giving back to the community. I was born in Elmira and have many family members who live there so keeping the community clean is personal to me. The highlight of our experience was finding a pair of used panties on the side of the road; which still makes me chuckle when I think of it. I hope that everyone one else in the class had the same experience that I did, and I hope that taking the initiative to do this will have an impact on the actions that other people in the community take to keep the streets free of litter.
