CMST& 230 Small Group Communications, Green River College
Group Members: Ilijah Rubashka, Diana Novak, Erica O’ Laughlin, Maria Gallardo, Morgan Holmes, Kimberly Najera, Jackson Turek.
The problem our group seeks to address is the issue of pollution that plagues communities, specifically land pollution. Single-use materials are getting more affordable, and therefore more common. As in the name, these types of materials may only be used once before being disposed of. The problem we are focused on is where these materials, and anything else that is easily discarded, end up once used up. Often, if no there’s no garbage can in sight, the quickest way people get rid of trash is to drop it and make it the problem of someone else. The issue is that entire communities face the consequences of littering, and if not resolved, their immediate health and environment may both be negatively impacted. Littering around bodies of water could potentially have the quickest negative effects on communities. If bodies of water frequently used are polluted it could lead to sickness and diseases. If littering persists in communities across the globe, the effects of climate change will worsen and have a significant effect on individuals everywhere.
Littering, especially around bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, oceans, seas, streams, and rivers is a huge problem. In the US, and other parts of the world littering around bodies of water needs to be resolved. Litter is visible everywhere from roadways, neighborhoods, freeways, parks, and bodies of water. Even if the visible litter has decreased by more than half, it is still a problem that needs urgent attention (Keep America Beautiful,2021). A 2009 litter study in the United States found that of the 51 billion pounds of trash produced, 90% were less than 4 inches in length (Hampton, Virginia). A great deal of this trash ends up around bodies of water, and a substantial amount ends up in oceans. Not only is the problem serious, but if not solved it can harm our wildlife, us humans, nature, and cities. Litter has many causes, such as people throwing cigarette ends on the ground, not picking up trash, not putting trash into trash cans, and throwing trash on the ground. Littering affects water quality, endangers plants and animals, and pollutes the outside world (EPA, 2022). One small piece of trash leads to more trash, and that leads to many severe effects. There is more trash around waterways-25.9 billion pounds compared to roads (Keep America Beautiful, 2021). 25.9 billion is massive, and not only is it a massive problem, but has massive effects. This problem is significant to my group and me because we have observed lots of trash in the Pacific Northwest area. Washington State has lots of bodies of water and there is lots of trash around them. Picking up litter around bodies of water matters to our group because we have seen the visible effects of climate change. We have chosen this because bodies of water are beautiful when clean, so we decided to try to keep them clean.
The solution criteria for the Small Wins group project is that it must be the achievement of a goal or task consistent with the definition of a group from our text. That is, the project includes three or more persons interacting who both influence and are influenced by one another. (Rothwell, 2019, p. 24). The Small Wins project must include a community service component, with our group determining what is both our “community” and who is being “served.” However, the project must have an actionable activity that is conducted by all the members. Further, the project must be accomplished within the provided timeline of four weeks, along with the required documentation and support as described in the assignment. Lastly, the project needs to be consistent with Green River College’s guidelines for the safety and security of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The solution suggested was to clean the lakes, therefore we picked up all debris in the body of water. As we went about our day, we picked up all the trash in the streets. We cleaned the shore of the lake, we cleaned the hiking trails. We chose to clean a lake, individually. In total our group went to over 4 different lakes for the assignment.
The solution our group has decided has been to pick a local body of water and clean the trash around it, delivering a polished/clean environment not only for humans to witness, but also for the wildlife living in the environment to enjoy. The reason our group had chosen this solution is because much of the earth’s wildlife dwells either in, or around a body of water like lakes, ponds, and oceans. Much of earth’s wildlife lives near bodies of water when trash or litter is present it pollutes the atmosphere of the lake, ponds, and beaches and causes harm to wildlife. This is especially threatening to wildlife because as Guilford County stated, “Researchers estimate that over one million animals die each year after becoming entrapped in or ingesting litter. The most common killer of animals is plastic litter, notably impacting marine animals” (Guilford County, 2021). Pollution, especially plastic pollution, has been scaringly impacting wildlife, and with our group’s time and effort, we have effectively cleaned local environments.
To start, we chose our solution by narrowing down what part of the environment we wanted to clean for our small win. We chose cleaning bodies of water because there are several cases where people go to the beach or lakes and don’t clean up after themselves, or trash that is left gets blown into these streams, ponds, lakes, and rivers. We implemented our solution into our individual lives by selecting these local bodies of water that were near us and that had been littered with trash and other things people had left around these bodies of water. We successfully cleaned up the areas we found that were covered in trash, accomplishing the goals we had set for our small win.
In conclusion, this project was a great success because this project led us to remove much waste and litter from a variety of lakes, ponds, and beaches that our group cleaned. Much plastic waste, empty cans, bottles, and food waste was thrown into recycle/trash bins putting this litter to proper disposal. Our group enjoyed success because we communicated throughout the experience using iMessage to stay in touch, remind each other of deadlines, and most importantly, encourage. Though our group had done this for a project, it truly inspires us to continue to clean up trash, not only around bodies of water, but just in general in our everyday life. Together, we can make the earth cleaner not only for us to enjoy, but also for the wildlife around us.
Rothwell, J.D. (2019). In mixed company: Communicating in small groups and teams (10th ed.). Oxford University Press. Animals – The Innocent Victims of Litter | County News.
Keep America Beautiful. (2021, May 19). Largest Study on Litter in America Released by Keep America Beautiful. I Love A Clean San Diego. Retrieved May 18, 2023, from https://cleansd.org/press_releases/largest-study-on-litter-in-america/
Hampton, Virginia. (N/A). Keep America Beautiful: Litter Research. Hampton.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2023, from https://hampton.gov/958/Keep-America-Beautiful-Litter-Research
EPA. (2022, October 31). Learn About Aquatic Trash | US EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/learn-about-aquatic-trash.
Guilford County. (2021, February 17). Animals – The Innocent Victims of Litter | County News. Guilford County. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://www.guilfordcountync.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2362/