Through participating in a coastal cleanup project, the author gained an awareness of the large amount of trash polluting the local bay area. The experience showed them firsthand how much garbage is littered everyday and the negative impact it has on wildlife. They were surprised to see so much trash in just a small section of the bay. This project changed the author's behaviors, and they now actively recycle and try to reduce waste and single-use plastics. They understood that everyone's individual littering contributes to the massive pollution problem, and small actions can make a positive difference for the environment. The author recommends more people have the opportunity to participate in similar educational cleanup projects.

1. Coastal Clean-Up – September 24, 2011
Through this experience at the coastal cleanup, I have become much more aware of the
problems our environment has. I truly cannot believe how much trash was on the bay and that
was only one small area. When starting this community service project, I looked at this class as
a graduation requirement. Now that I have completed this task, I am extremely happy this was
the activity that I has part took in. Today, I would have considered myself environmentally
unfriendly. I never recycled, used plenty of water bottles and overall, was very wasteful. This
project has changed me because now my roommates and I have bought a recycling bin and
actively use it and in generally I have become more aware of my actions.
The activity was very well organized and easy to complete because of the guidance and
proper tools we were given. I enjoyed every aspect about this trip. I was in complete shock and
given a big wake up call. I never really considered the environment or saw it first hand to
understand. It was a great location and a place you can tell many civilians enjoy like fisherman
and hikers. I liked that there was a lot to clean up and although we didn’t get everything, you
could tell me made progress.
I also was very impressed by the Johnson & Wales students who cooked us lunch. It was
an incredible thing and such a great community service idea. The bus would benefit so many
people who could not feed themselves in crisis and the food was amazing. The students did a
fabulous job.
The only thing I did not like about the trip was counting the pieces of trash and tallying
what was what. Although I do understand why we did it, I feel in a situation like that, the more

2. hands the better. We only had a block of time to clean up and we may have been able to clean
up more in that time.
Before completing this assignment, I never truly understood pollution. As much as
people would talk about it, it was hard to grasp how bad it was. Through the videos and articles
we read, I started to understand but once we were at this site, I could not believe what I saw.
The articles had pictures of all those animals that were injured from pollution, and at this place,
you could see how possible it was. It was completely filthy and I cannot believe that people
litter. I don’t litter but I am very wasteful and now, I try not to be. Since we talked about plastic
bags in class and how many Americans go through each year, I cannot use a bag without
thinking about it first. I cannot say, I am going to be a completely green person but I have
become aware. I also try not to use water bottles and have purchased the reusable bottles and
to-go cups. It’s hard for people to think that one time they litter, it will affect the environment.
We need to put this into perspective. Can you imagine if every American dropped a piece of
trash and didn’t pick it up? There would be over 300 million pieces of trash on the ground. Most
people litter more than just once piece of trash. I know for me, that one does matter because
that was the result of what we saw on the bay.
Overall, I think this was a great experience and I would do it again. I am glad that this is a
graduation requirement because I truly enjoyed it. It was a great learning experience and I
hope more people have the option to learn what I did.