For this experience under service, I went with a group of people on Sunday’s and collected trash from different places around my city like beaches, walkways, streets, etc around 3-4 times. By working collaboratively and for a purpose which mattered to me I was able to learn a lot and take actions to improve my environment and work towards the dream of a clean Surat.

L3. Initiate and plan a CAS experience

There was a lot of planning that went into this CAS experience, especially since we went early in a morning and a big group of people. I had to do some informal surveying to understand the most polluted places in Surat and how should I go ahead with this experience to have the most impact. One of the ways I did planning was by using Whatsapp as a medium of quick and efficient discussion to make sure that there were no gaps in communication.

L5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively

There is always a strength in numbers, by working collaboratively I was able to have a much bigger impact than I would have otherwise. Alone I would have had to spend days to pick up the amount of trash which we did in a few hours. Also by working with many people I was able to spread the message since they used their connections and social media platforms to propogate the idea of a clean Surat and to stop littering.

L7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

It’s just one bottle, said 8 billion people.

4ocean on Facebook

We often tend to understimate the ripple effect i.e. the impact of our individual actions on the planet. Something I thought about while doing this experience is that if each individual person had made the choice to throw the trash in the proper place, we would not be here right now. The choices I make, though it might seem small to me, has a big impact on my environment. By reviewing my actions and reconsidering the impact of my choices I can actually propogate the butterfly effect and do my part in making the world a cleaner, safer and better place.

Evidence: