Herald homework: Among of litter is disturbing

Recently, my family and I have been going around the community and picking up trash, and the amount we have found is absolutely ridiculous!

The first time, we set out on a walk through our neighborhood trails and park. We brought one bag along expecting to fill up maybe half the bag. When we returned home the bag was full and minutes from breaking. Along with the ton of bottles, cans, dog poop bags and candy wrappers, we also found a sandal in the middle of a stream, a traffic cone and a wine bottle that was deliberately buried. It was honestly a bit disturbing to find this much in a residential area just tossed in the bushes. Over the course of about a week, we cleaned up more of my neighborhood as well as the Mill Creek Nature Preserve in which we found three more bags worth of trash.

Yesterday we went to Heatherwood Middle School to pick up garbage. Two hours later, we had found five bags’ worth of trash and we had to turn back because we ran out of garbage bags. I found it extremely unsettling that there was this much garbage at my school, and that I had walked past it unknowingly nearly every day. It is concerning that people consider it OK just to chuck their garbage into the bushes. And don’t just blame the kids, because we found dirty diapers and coffee cups.

We only have one earth and we shouldn’t ruin it.

Amadea O.

sixth grade

Mill Creek

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