One Piece A Day

Good Habits Start Young
I have been aware of garbage and our relationship to garbage from a young age. As a child growing up in Los Angeles, I was taken on more than one occasion to the supermarket dumpster to dig for perfectly usable food, thrown away for small defects. In middle school, I would stroll alleyways, poking around in trash cans for usable stuff. I found everything from three-ring binders, to a usable axe, to somebody's stash of Playboy magazines - the ultimate treasure haul for a pubescent boy.

At age 13, my brother and I took it upon ourselves to bring garbage bags from home and clean up a several-block stretch of Veteran Avenue in Westwood. The bags filled quickly, and there was still lots of trash left. Our parents were amazed at what we, two teenaged boys, had chosen to do.

As an adult and a parent, I have rediscovered the sense of community responsibility that goes along with wanting to clean up. I take my daughter for walks, and we carry bags to fill with roadside trash. I've adopted the bus stop by my house through the Metro Transit program, and I frequently stop by to ensure that any garbage in that block is in the provided trash can, and not lying on the side of the road.

One Piece A Day
One day, frustrated at the sheer volume of garbage everywhere, and the impossibility of ever cleaning it all up, I discovered a powerful idea. Rather than feeling like I need to pick up every piece of garbage, I gave myself permission to pick up only ONE piece. Picking up one piece of garbage makes a contribution. It leaves my environment better than I found it. It sets a positive example for others. And more than that, it is a very simple and achievable commitment.

Not long after starting this campaign, I became especially frustrated by the profusion of cigarette butts on the ground, often inches from a trash receptacle. Consequently. I've upped the ante and committed to picking up ONE piece of trash and ONE cigarette butt a day.

As it turns out, when I decided to start this blog to share my ideas, I found that this powerful idea is far from new. In coming up with this commitment, I was joining similar movements in other parts of the world. For example:

- The One Piece A Day campaign in Montana: http://onepieceaday.blogspot.com/
- The One Piece A Day campaign in Finland: http://www.litterproject.com/

In this blog, I'll share some of my reflections on the impact that this commitment has had on me and my community.

Most important, I ask YOU to join me by committing to pick up ONE piece of trash every day, no matter how small.

-Nick Dallett
Kirkland, Washington