So it all start when I was told “Hey! Hang on to that bottle dude, we need it to build a float.” on a meeting at the start of September. Little did I know that at that day I would change who I am and start making a difference in the world. I’ve asked a couple of my friends to start saving their own water bottles and they have been generous to me with their time and effort, and perhaps without them I couldn’t have contributed as much to this project.
The day we had the meeting Maddy Nyblade, the president of Eco Action at the time being, brought up the idea of using plastic bottles in the float for the homecoming parade to convey that people nowadays use a lot of plastic bottles and that they are cause a lot of pollution and harm to the ecosystem. During the meeting the club members who attended divided into sub groups to have a discussion on what should be included during the parade and the majority have decided to create an artistic structure using plastic bottles.
A week later there was a scavenger hunt where a small group of club members went to gather water bottles from different areas on campus, and although we did pick up plastic bottles from recycling bins we intended to place them back into recycling containers once the event was over. A couple of days later the notion of creating a globe using those bottles was decided on, however that decision did receive a lot of criticism and opposition from a number of people however more people wanted to proceed with the decision and so it happened.
Day after day people were bringing water bottles they have saved for the project and in just a couple of weeks we had a couple hundred water bottles for the float. It was almost time for the big event and construction on the globe has started, bottles were painted green and blue to represent the land and ocean. At the same time, the globe was starting to form its shape from plastic tubing and wire, allowing room for water bottles to fit on it.
The night before the big day people gathered at Maddy’s house where the plastic bottles were put in place and posters were painted to be carried to the parade, it was a stressful night with lots of rushing to make sure everything was ready on time but at the same time there was joy in the company of people who wanted to do good for the world as well as some music played on the stereo and some delicious pasta.
On the day of the parade the globe was carried to the walking ground but we had to go through the center of campus and that’s where we first started hearing people loving the outcome of the work we were doing for the past couple weeks. Lots of pictures were taken before we even arrived at the parade and that erased all the negativity we were told from those who didn’t agree with the idea of the globe. Although it was a cold night people seemed to enjoy looking at what we had and I surely enjoyed telling people (kindly) to reduce, reuse and recycle their water bottles.
It’s surprising how much people are willing to give of their time and effort to help make a difference in the world, especially after being given the right reasons and sharing their passions with people who have similar mindsets. The work we did wasn’t just something one person could accomplish on their own but it was a collection of different people who cared and were motivated enough to make a difference in their world. I know they have changed mine, as I started to be more thoughtful of the environment I’m living in and how I could be a better person on this Earth. Change no matter how little does have an impact that could grow and actually make a difference in the world, never give up and always reduce, reuse and recycle.
