This post has been sponsored by the Reverse Litter Campaign in connection with upcoming Earth Day. All opinions are 100% our own!
One of the views my family sees every week is a long stretch of wire fence that stands between our church parking lot and 635. It never ceases to amaze (and disgust) us how much trash is stuck against that fence. One weekend a few years ago, we made it our mission to clean up that line of fence to beautify the view for Easter Sunday.
Last week, a fellow mom from my kids’ school emailed me to ask if there was any way the PTA could install trash cans in front of the school. She explained that the yard always seems littered with trash, and she wishes she could pick it up (and throw it away) as she waits for her child each afternoon.
There’s a small creek behind our house. My boys love to climb down to it wearing waders and old clothing. They fish, play, and explore within earshot of me. The only negative is the trash that floats past or becomes lodged in the shallow areas.
What do these stories have in common? They all demonstrate just how prevalent trash is in our daily lives. It’s everywhere! How all that litter gets thrown into the world, I don’t even know. Sometimes it feels overwhelming to me. How can my little family even begin to make a difference when litter is all around us?
There’s a movement sweeping our city that addresses that very question. The Reverse Litter Campaign, led by the Tarrant Regional Water District and the cities of Dallas, Denton, and Fort Worth, is asking people to make a pledge to pick up litter once a week. “Ten on Tuesday” is their super catchy call to action. Of course, you don’t have to stop at 10 pieces of litter, but if everyone does a little bit it makes a huge difference!
I read on the Reverse Litter website that if just 5000 people picked up 10 pieces of trash once a week for a year, the Metroplex would reduce litter by 2.6 million pieces. That means our streets would look nicer and our water supply would be cleaner. That’s right- the nasty litter all over town heads into storm drains, then into creeks and rivers, before draining into our area reservoirs where we get our drinking water. The fact is we have to start somewhere or nothing will change.
And as everyone knows, people are more likely to follow through with action when they have made some kind of commitment. That’s why the Reverse Litter campaign is encouraging families, businesses, and schools to go online and make a pledge. There’s a short online form where people can pledge to pick up Ten on Tuesday. Over 18,000 have already made the pledge!
It is encouraging to me to know that a huge number of people are as fed up with litter as I am. It definitely makes the problem of litter feel less overwhelming. My family is making the pledge. I am sharing the link on our neighborhood Facebook page also, so more families can get involved.
I’m even brainstorming ways to get my kids excited about picking up litter. It doesn’t have to be a chore! We might have timed contests, meet up with friends to pick up trash as a group, or offer a small reward (ice cream, anyone?) for sticking with it for a month.
Kids sometimes feel left out from volunteering because there are so many things they aren’t old enough to do. But this is a meaningful opportunity to make the world a better place. I want to help them see that they are a part of the solution to a big problem. They need to understand that their small part is valuable and necessary. That can be extremely empowering for children and set the stage for a lifetime of helpfulness toward the community and world as a whole.
Does your family want to make the pledge? Check out all the details at http://reverselitter.com and join the movement. Let’s do something about litter!
