Kia ora!
Today, for our very first blog post, we thought we would chat to you about the importance of cleanups and the positive impact it has in our community!
As you may or may not be aware, Keep Hamilton Beautiful has done two clean-ups this year so far (make sure you join in the next one, it’s fun, we promise!)
Can you believe Keep Hamilton Beautiful gathered 1.25 tonnes of waste in 90mins on their first clean-up and 1.2 tonnes in 90mins on their second?
Mind blown!
We believe that through positive action we can create positive change and have a positive influence in and on the community - hence why we do a monthly clean up to keep Hamilton beautiful and inspire, empower and educate our community along the way to be able to make better choices for our environment and keep up that clean green image we love to show off!
What happens at a community clean-up?
Anyone and everyone who cares about the environment is welcome to come!
We meet at a designated area on a designated day armed with pick-up gear (this is things like buckets and gardening gloves) and we pick up rubbish around that area. The whole event is usually for a couple of hours however if you can only make 30mins, or an hour you are still more than welcome, and we would love to see you there.
Not only do you get the warm and fuzzy feelings from doing something good for Mother Earth, but the lovely team at Sunny Nelson Icecream might even give you a special treat too to say thanks for doing a great job.
Why do we do community clean-ups?
Doing a clean-up benefits all members of the community!
Other than making our city look gross, litter can disrupt the eco-system of our environment and attract all sorts of things we don’t want around like insects and rodents.
It is also harmful to our beloved pets and children who might pick it up, step on it or even ingest it!
Litter is everywhere these days, it can be found on our roads, in our gutters, in our yards, and in communal areas like parks and schools, as well as in our natural local areas like our rivers, streams, and bushes. (Phew! That’s a lot of damage done to our beautiful local environment just because people don’t want to walk a few more meters to the bin)
But now we’ve got all the depressing stuff out of the way..
What are the positive impacts of community clean-ups?
Getting the community involved in a clean-up is a great way to create tangible awareness, having people see the amount of litter around makes them really think about the way they deal with their rubbish.
This lays the groundwork for future waste-reducing efforts and inspires people to make small changes to benefit the earth and our environment.
It can also bring a real sense of community and responsibility to the people in our city to keep our homes and communal areas safe and clean and be more conscious consumers.
It also takes tonnes (literal tonnes) of rubbish out of our environment and I don’t know about you, but if that’s not positive I don’t know what is.
So if you’re free for a couple of hours the next time Keep Hamilton Beautiful has a cleanup, why not join us, do something good for the planet, do something good for your community and come pick up some rubbish (and don’t litter in the first place *wink*)
Keep an eye out on our instagram, facebook, and website for more tips and tricks coming atcha about how to reduce your waste, so hopefully one-day cleanups like this can be a thing of the past… because there’s no rubbish to pick up!!
