The Autumn always makes me want to get out into nature. Perhaps it’s knowing that soon it will be too cold to really explore. Perhaps it’s the joy of the changing of the seasons. I tend to head out to the beac to go for long walks, collect sea glass and beach items, and relax. Sometimes we will head to a park to take a long hike and seed search. Sometimes we just walk around our neighborhood.
This is a perfect time to be mindful of the trash and litter we see as we are spending time outdoors.
But we can do more than just be mindful of it. Every time we go out we can do a little clean. You can go as small or as big as you like with this idea. There are many litter picking goals you can use on walks:
Do a 5 minute beach clean before you start your walk.
Make a goal of picking up 5-10 pieces of trash on your hike.
As you finish a walk, pick up trash only on your way home.
Plus far more! Your imagination if the limit of the challenges you can create.
Being mindful of litter will make you see it everywhere and it’s easy to pick some on your way. But it’s also easy to get overwhelmed. Just the amount of disposable make or other PPE your see will make your head spin. While it’s important to help by picking up some trash, it’s also important that you are able to relax and decompress in nature.
Since I mostly go to the beach, I like to take my long walk, relax, search for treasures, not trash, and then as I head back home I pick up as much trash as I can carry.
Some tips for a beach clean or a litter hike:
Bring a bag - you can collect cool things as well as trash!
Scope out where to throw away the trash you pick up - It’s good to know where you will dump your trash after youve picked it up. I try not to throw away my trash at the beach cans, if possible, bc I know they just get blown about and the trash wil end up back on the sand.
Bring gloves - if you don’t want to p0ick up tash with your bare hands. Sometimes if I forget gloves, I will not pick up certain items like masks or tampon applicators.
Remember you can’t pick up everything - My friend used to tell a story about his friend, who on coming to a huge swath of trash, started to cry. She was so over whelmed, she couldn’t handle the full extent of the litter. I think of this story all the time, I often feel like this way. Or worse, I feel apathetic to the whole situation. I would rather pick up 1 peice of trash than turn a blind eye on all of it. So don’t beat yourself up if you can’t get every item of trash you see.
For October, try picking up 1 or more or many more pieces of trash on your next walk. This is a great addition to our goals of becoming more zero waste every month.
Where do you like to walk? On the beach or in your neighborhood? Do you pick up trash in another area on your zero waste travels?
If you are new to this series, here’s what ew are working on for this 6 moth block. Follow along or pick and choose challenges to try:
June 2020- Say NO, Say Yes
PLASTIC FREE JULY
August 2020 - Carry No Disposables
September 2020 - back to school/educate
October 2020 - Beach clean
November 2020 - Hidden plastic
December 2020 - Repair before you replace
We started our tackling new zero waste challenges six months at a time in 2019: January 2019 - Trash Audit
We separated and looked our trash to see what we are throwing away and what we can reduce.
February 2019- Declutter Everything
We went thru what we have to declutter and reduce.
March 2019- Switch to Paper
This month we moved to paper to get one step closer to reusables.
April 2019- Compost
Composting is an easy way to reduce food waste and prevent it from reaching the landfill.
May 2019- Meatless Monday
One of the best ways to improve the environment is to stop eating factory farmed meat and industrial fish. Small steps lead to big change so this month we gave up meat (or dairy or fish) for at least one day.
June 2019- No Bottled Water
We gave up bottled water as an avenue to give up more disposable plastic in Plastic Free July.
July 2019 - Plastic Free July!
Go plastic free this month!
In late 2019, we continued our journey to becoming more zero waste:
November 2019 - Zero Waste Kit
We created a zero waste kit to help us be more zero waste in our day to day life.
December 2019- No Gifts
We took Dec to give no gifts and get no gifts.
January 2020 - Clothing and Fast Fashion
This month we explored what fast fashion is, and how we can stop buying it forever.
February 2020- Use Mass Transit
The shortest month seemed like a good time to explore alternatives to driving our cars.
March 2020 - Bathroom Make-over
You’ve swapped out a few items to more sustainable choices around the house. It’s time to tackle a full room.
April 2020- Grow Your Own Food
April marks the start of spring in the continental USA, and when we can start growing food easily. But there are many ways and time to grow your some of own food.