392 Solid Waste: Turning a Health Risk Into a Resource
Organize a trash walk (continued)
➋ Hold a meeting before the trash walk
It is helpful to have a meeting to talk about the reasons for the walk, what to look
for, and what each person hopes to achieve by joining the trash walk. It is helpful to
understand what motivates each of them. Some people may earn their livelihood
collecting resources that others throw away. Others may want to improve the
health and beauty of the community.
Thirty years ago we
grew all of our food.
Now we buy most of our
food at the store.
Everything
comes
wrapped in
plastic that
we throw in
the street.
Now there
is garbage
everywhere!
➌ Plan your walk
Decide where to walk and together make a list of things to look for, such as:
• trash clogging drainage ditches, other waterways, and streets.
• human feces and animal waste along streets and waterways.
• toxic wastes.
• animals eating from trash piles.
Ask older members of the community to describe how it was 20 or 30 years ago.
Was there more or less or different kinds of trash? What did people do with their
trash then? Think about this during the walk.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012