Problem to Address: After starting Kindergarten at Ilchester Elementary, I noticed garbage in the playground and areas around the school. This project would bring my classmates and neighborhood friends together to enhance our environment through a community clean-up day.
Actions to Implement: Iris’s Dusting for Dandelions: A Community Clean-Up Project aims to: 1. Enhance friendship for young people in the Ilchester Elementary Community; 2. Deepen community through a clean-up day to support the project; and 3. Increase the wellbeing of the neighborhood through youth collaboration that supports efforts that enhance the environment, school wellness, and overall neighborhood health. This project hopes to strengthen the local community that we all use and share!
Great! Iris was joined by 11 of her classmates and friends (and their parents) and the beautiful summer day made for the perfect cleanup just before getting back to school.
"I learned that littering isn't just something that is bad for the earth but it also makes people sad by the way it impacts their environment." - Iris (age 6)
We collected over 10 bags and if we did this again we might create team for the various areas around the school and in the neighborhood to better understand the amount in different parts and how to better plan to do the pickup day again in a more coordinated effort.
"That my project helped he earth." - Iris (age 6) She also shared liking the feeling where her school and playground looked clean too. It was a great way to spend time with friends and we even included new families that were starting the schoolyear for the first time!
The younger kids were very motivated to pickup trash based on who was getting more. This could be a great encouragement tool to turn neighborhood cleanup into a friendly competition that inspires kids to constantly be thinking about picking up litter they see!
