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Love Earth. The Clean Earth Challenge + more!
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April is Earth Month!
To celebrate, we are finding ways to reduce our impact on the environment, including The Clean Earth Challenge + more!
With a quick search, you can find multiple organizations with the goal of having a positive impact on Earth.
But does it really matter? Does it really help? YES! Even if it’s only a small impact on the environment, it may inspire more people to be aware of their choices. Or it may inspire others to join the cause and volunteer as well.
But even if it did neither of those things, it’s still worth it because…
“We must become the change we want to see.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”
James Clear
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The Clean Earth Challenge
The National Wildlife Federation and Johnson Outdoors collaborated to launch the Clean Earth Challenge in 2022.
The challenge is as easy as
- Sign up
- Pick up litter
- Measure your impact
Whether it’s going solo or working as a group, it’s as easy as picking up trash anywhere you go. Whether it’s trash picked up as you walk through a parking lot, a park, or an official group cleanup, anything counts. Anything helps.
Links for you to start your Clean Earth Challenge
The Earth Month EcoChallenge
With beginnings in 1993, the Ecochallenge, founded in Portland, Oregon, was created to inspire community leadership and action. In 1997, there was an expansion beyond the Pacific Northwest launching the ‘National Earth Institute Network’ to maximize impact across the U.S. In 2008 the first annual Ecochallenge was launched.
In 2016 The Ecochallenge Platform was completely redeveloped and relaunched as a comprehensive digital platform for social change. To participate:
- Join or create a team.
- Choose actions that you can commit to throughout the Ecochallenge. A wide variety of actions are offered. Find the one-time or ongoing actions that best fit your lifestyle and passion. Anything from organizing a litter pick up, to planting a tree is offered.
- Complete your actions.
- Share your story to motivate your team (if you wish).
- See your impact (on your page dashboard).
Links for you to start your EcoChallenge
One of the easier activities we can all do on a daily basis is to pick up litter.
A few quick stats on litter:
- Nearly 50 billion pieces of litter along U.S. roadways and waterways
- Slightly more litter along waterways (25.9B) than roadways (23.7B)
- 152 items for each U.S. resident
- More than 2,000 pieces of litter per mile (both roadway and waterway)
- 90% of people surveyed believe litter is a problem in their state
- 6 billion pieces more than four inches in size
- Most littered item remains cigarette butts, but this litter
is down almost 70% - 207.1 Million PPE items littered
*Stats from The Keep America Beautiful 2020 National Litter Study, the largest study on litter in America
Why pick up litter?
Picking up litter helps to maintain the cleanliness and beauty of our surroundings, creating a more pleasant environment for everyone.
Picking up litter helps to protect wildlife and their habitats. Animals can mistake litter for food or become entangled in it, leading to harm or even death.
There aren’t many things that are universally cool, and it’s cool not to litter. I’d never do it.
Matthew McConaughey
Litter can pollute our waterways and harm aquatic life. By picking up litter, you are actively contributing to the preservation of nature and the well-being of ecosystems.
Setting a positive example by picking up litter can inspire others to do the same, fostering a sense of community and collective responsibility for the environment.
Is picking up litter worth it?
Picking up litter is a meaningful activity that gives quick and rewarding satisfaction, allowing you to make a small but important impact in a short space of time. Litter picking provides anyone with the ability to drive positive change in their local environment.
Random tidbits of fun information
There is a term for picking up litter while doing other hobbies/activities:
Plogging– a mash-up of jogging and the Swedish term “plocka upp,” which means “pick up.”
Plalking– walking while picking up litter
Pliking– hiking or biking biking and litter cleanup
And I’m adding in:
Playaking– kayaking and litter cleanup
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Robert Swan
Final Thoughts
There is a lot of scary information out there about littering and the damage it does to people, animals, and the planet. Picking up litter is not THE answer. But it is a quick and easy way for everyone to put a small dent in the problem.
Join us in the Clean Earth Challenge!
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The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it – this quote is so true. Everyone is worried about climate change and the state the world is heading toward but not worried enough to do something about it. The Clean Earth Challenge is a great incentive that I hope people will join. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Some great information here, thanks. I especially loved some of your quotes. Powerful.
The litter statistics are appalling. Your post is inspiration. I am sure your readers are inspired to do our part to help clean up our planet one day at a time.
If I can inspire even just one, I’ll be happy!
Thanks a lot for the info about the Challenge! I always thought that I do care about the Planet, but as my Daughter grows she even shows me new ways to think about. Litter collection is something she is really up to!
My son has always liked our time together walking and picking up litter. It can be family bonding time also!
great article, thanks for sharing 🙂
Those are some scary stats in the US alone. Don’t even want to mention the rest of the world. We need to have a serious look on the health of our planet. Thanks for sharing this!
nice topic my way of helping the environment, no straws, i recycle plastic bottles, i recycle water by using used water to flush the toilet and water our plants, use food scrap as fertilizer
Awesome! Those are all great ideas!
Great blog post. Very eye opening how much litter there is. I definitely agree that picking up litter is rewarding, especially when you get to see and experience the difference, and also know it’s benefiting the wider community and animals.