CMST &230 Small Group Communication, Green River College
Group: Accounting
Group Members: Bill Marban, Liam Daugherty, Bianca Cano, Ryo Abe, Yunzhong Li, Ximena Morales-Marques, Kimberlyn Morales
Throughout our day-to-day basis we come across waste such as plastic bottles and wrappers scattered throughout the streets. Well, it’s time to recognize the issue of this waste appearing on and affecting rivers.
The problem that our group wanted to focus our attention on was trashing and littering, especially around bodies of water such as the lakes and rivers around the community. Littering is a large problem in our community and needs to be addressed. Littering does not just make our community look and smell bad but comes with more serious consequences like decreasing wildlife, spreading diseases, and even affecting our economy because tourism is decreased due to the unpleasant trash. The trash you litter most of the time either ends up in the ocean or back on your plate through some animal that ends up eating it.
We set a goal that each group member picks up trash on the side of a river or lake. Picking up trash individually may not have a big effect on our environment, but it will be bigger if these actions affect people who see our activity, and as a result, the situation of the environment will be better. Therefore, our solution criteria are bringing trash bags to the spot, picking up any kind of litter, and taking pictures. We believe that these small things will be helpful to solve environmental pollution problems.
As a group we decided that it would be best to contribute to cleaning up a body of water. This contribution, although small, has a very big impact on wildlife and surrounding areas. If everyone came together and did a small cleanup, our planet would be a cleaner place. Running bodies of water carry waste all over the world. If small communities cleaned up rivers, Lakes, oceans and ponds our wildlife would be much happier. Even if it’s just a few bottles of soda, no job is too small.
Our group finds out a couple of ideas during brainstorming. Such as placing more bins around the street or places where the trash shows up and doing some reward activity about the trash bin to encourage people to throw the trash into the bins. After our final discussion, we decided to use the most simple and essential resolution to solve the problem which is by picking up the trash with our hands and leaving a photo with it. We believe this seems like a tiny move that could influence people to do the same thing as we did. Even though it is a small contribution but with big meaning.
At the start of the project, we brainstormed and discussed until we came up with our small win of cleaning up our rivers. Then we volunteered for different pieces of the project and rearranged positions based on our strengths. During the research aspect of the project, each of us either together or solo went out and cleaned a riverbank. We made sure to include pictures as evidence that we cleaned and did something good for the environment. At this point in time most of the executive summary is complete and we began to work on the slideshow. Fast Forward to the day before the due date, we wrapped up any procrastination and went through and made sure all information needed was indeed present. We decided to wait the night out just so group members could make any last-minute changes and turn it in the following morning.
With new advancements being seen and done constantly we lose sight of taking care of not ourselves but our area and where we’re standing. The success of cleaning even the smallest of areas brings to light how beautiful our environment can be when we take care of it. The grass looks greener, and the water looks just a bit clearer. Small bundles of trash from one small area made a difference in helping to keep an area like Green River cleaner as safer for all. Our group progressed in showing each other our progress of cleaning different parts of Green River made the difference to each other and, each of us were proud of one another for taking the time out of our busy schedules to do a job that most don’t think twice of starting.
Green River Watershed. Green River Watershed – King County. (n.d.). Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/watersheds/green-river.aspx
Evans, Sid. “What Would Teddy Do?” Field & Stream, vol. 108, no. 6, Oct. 2003, p. 5. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.greenriver.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=voh&AN=10931022&site=ehost-live&scope=siteLinks to an external site..
Recycling Machines in Turkey provide food for stray animals when a bottle is deposited. The Bark. (2021, June 9). Retrieved June 7, 2022, from https://thebark.com/content/recycling-machines-turkey-provide-food-stray-animals-when-bottle-deposited