Spring cleaning our shared home

Mother Nature called; she said she made a new chore chart and your row is ready for some gold stars. Spring is peeping its head around the wintery corner—making you want to scratch that allergy itch in your eye and that itch to CLEAN. The Smithsonian Sustainability Matters Newsletter is giving you the excuse to procrastinate just a little longer before reorganizing the shed or cleaning behind the fridge (has anyone ever actually done that?) because the time to combat plastic pollution is NOW.

Picture that discarded disposable glove you saw on your walk the other day. The windy month of March blew it over from a few streets down. Soon, lawn mowers will be in full bloom and that glove will be confetti, swept up in a spring rainstorm down into a storm drain and on its way to becoming microplastic in our waterways. Keep America Beautiful estimates 24 billion pieces of litter were deposited along highways and 26 billion in waterways in 2020, and litter seems to be increasing during the pandemic with 207 million pieces of PPE litter on the ground at any one time during late 2020.

Unlike other daunting environmental problems, there is a very tangible and easily implementable solution to this one. So before the mosquitos, ticks, poison ivy and brambles that come with warmer weather stand in your way, move Litter Clean Up to the top of your Spring Cleaning To Do list. We’ve compiled a few ways to get you started on earning those Mother Nature Gold Stars:

Start Small

Take a lap around your yard/balcony/block and pick up what you find. No old takeout container is becoming a reservoir for mosquito eggs on your watch!

Run, Forest, Run…

Have you heard of Plogging? It’s a combination of jogging and plocka upp, Swedish for “to pick up.” Basically, next time you go on a jog or run, bring a tote bag or a trash bag with you and fill it up with whatever you find on your path. Bending down to pick up trash on your route increases your impact radius and is great for the glutes. A runner’s high PLUS the thrill of caring for the planet?! I’ll have what she’s having.

Perhaps you’re not up for jogging, but you have to walk the dog at least once a day anyway. Responsible dog walker that you are, you are picking up waste anyway so why not grab those stray pieces of plastic as well? And if you make sure to recycle the trash you collect then perhaps Mother Nature will give you a platinum star.

Mask Up and Pick Up

A number of national and local organizations are hosting stream clean ups, road side pick ups, and other (outdoor) community events that are all worth checking out and signing up for. Here are a few to start with. Click through the links to find out more details about registration and how to prepare:

Saturday, April 10, DC, MD, VA, PA, WV*

Alice Ferguson Foundation 33rd Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup

Check out all the Trash Free Potomac Network events on this map

Saturday, April 10, Alexandria, VA*

Four Mile Run Litter Clean-up

Saturday, April 17, Greenbelt, MD

2021 Potomac Watershed Cleanup/Volunteer Day

Saturday, April 24, Frederick, MD

Bring a Broom Saturday 2021

Saturday, April 24, Anacostia Watershed, MD

Anacostia Watershed Society Earth Day Cleanup

*Although some events listed here occurred before publication, there are plenty of ways to do your part:

• Volunteer for the Great American Cleanup from March 20 to June 20, 2021.
• Organize your own clean up with Clean Fairfax Community Clean Up Program!
• Search for other Earth Day clean up events you can participate in here.

This post by Amanda Sciandra, education programming manager eith the National Museum of Natural History, was originally published by the Sustainability Matters newsletter.

In honor of Earth Day and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sustainability Matters, be sure to join the live event April 21, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Get more information here.

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