Volunteer to Raise Money for Leukemia Research while Killing the Environment

I went to volunteer at a event to help raise money for leukemia. It was a fun run, which means there were plastic water bottles handed out everywhere. Okay, I understand people need water... I wish they could use their own personal water bottles... but, I understand. I keep my position leading and organizing groups of people to start the run.

After a couple hours into my shift, a head volunteer coordinator approaches with a trash bag filled with paper, wrappers, various debris, but mostly full of the before mentioned plastic water bottles. Normally, I am not a confrontational person. For some reason, perhaps because of the conversation with the couple from the night before, I spoke out. I asked her if they had recycling bins and if they planned on recycling the plastic bottles. She looked at me blankly. She didn't know if the building had recycling bins and no, she did not plan on recycling the bottles. At this point, she hands me the plastic bag and tells me to take care of the plastic bottles if I want, but she doesn't have time to do it.

Walking around the building, I find several recycling containers that the security guards were taking out at a regular basis. Talking to other event coordinators, I managed to gather a group of five or so volunteers to pick up bottles lying around, empty the contents, wash the bottles if needed, and empty them into the proper recycling receptacles. Easy.

Why wasn't this happening? Why do people think that keeping the environment clean doesn't affect peoples health and lives? They raised a million dollars for research at the expense of thousands of plastic bottles lying in mounds on top of a landfill or dumped into our ocean. OUR ocean OUR land... we all share in it.

Being hesitant to speak out is one of my negative traits, which I need to work on. Which leads me to my next point, I want to start a lunch or dinner club. More specifically, I want to start a lunch or dinner club, where people who are passionate about the environment can talk to each other, inspire each other, and find ways, no matter how small, to make a difference. Let's go buy some local produce, cook some delicious food, but most importantly, Let's start a conversation.