Day 8 - Lambert Wilson Park

Date: Aug 17, 2021

Location: Lambert Wilson Park

Garbage (lbs): 2

Recycling (lbs): 1

This cleanup marked our fourth park cleanup in August, which was completed with 3 members of our project group (plus one friend who volunteered to help). Our initial plan was to clean up Queen's Diamond Jubilee Park, but as we soon found out, the park was very pristine and clean, and we were not able to find much garbage. Thus, we decided to clean a different park -- Lambert Wilson Park. Looking at Lambert Wilson Park, it was generally well-maintained and had many amenities such as baseball diamonds and playgrounds. Plus, it was near the AFLC so there were many visitors of diverse age ranges using the park all the time. Interestingly, despite the park being very wide and large, most of the trash and recycling we picked up was near the garbage bins, which were accessible and prevalent throughout the park. At the same time, those garbage bins were located near high-traffic areas such as the baseball diamond, trails, or playgrounds. Thus, it is clear that the strategy of simply putting garbage bins near high traffic areas is not sufficient to prevent littering. As previously mentioned in other park cleanups, there are many solutions to this such as deterrence through fines and punishment, or figures of authority patrolling parks. However, simpler or more affordable solutions may be needed for parks of a larger scale.

One strategy that could be implemented easily and quickly is to spread messaging about environmentalism through social media and online mediums. The Town of Aurora, for example, has lots of capacity to promote anti-littering messages as many people listen or see its messages on a daily basis. There can even be messaging implemented in the parks themselves, such as on billboards or on signs, to constantly remind people not to litter. Psychologically, this may not be as powerful as threatening fines for littering, but with enough messaging, in many places, we can convince many people to make the "right choice" and not litter. These graphics can be fun and casual ones, or they could be more serious to make a strong impact on older generations who litter.

The biggest takeaway from this cleanup was that for larger parks like Lambert Wilson (which also happened to be part of a very popular trail system in Aurora), that are visited by many people, keeping them clean may be a harder task and so the best solution is to prevent any littering from accumulating there in the first place. Areas that are most popular should be surrounded with anti-littering reminders (and other environmental reminders) that will help create an atmosphere of stewardship for all park-goers.

#CASCleanup2021