Community Cleanup was an initiative started by our school where we went to different sites in our city and spent around 2 hours each cleaning it up. I did a total of 4 cleanup drives in 5 months. This initiative not only cleaned up the space but also helped us reflect on how much humankind has polluted the environment and left such a negative impact on the same. It made me realise that it’s easy for us to say that pollution can be overcome but when we make even the slightest effort to clean our surroundings, like picking up trash for instance, it proves to be a very tedious task.

LO 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

In one of our drives, we had cleaned pond weed and this was one thing I had never done ever before. We learnt that due to this vegetation in the pond, it does not get oxygen which affects the life underwater. We had rakes which we used to get the weed out and this was something I was doing for the first time. One of the main challenges here was to pull out the weed once stuck in the rake and it needed a little strength. However, this process helped me learn a new skill and gave me an unconventional experience.

LO 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Community cleanup drives were something which went out of my comfort zone because I did not do anything like this regularly which is why going through 6 drives required a fair amount of commitment and perseverance. After each drive, the will to go to the next one would die out and this is when commitment was required. The thought that we were doing something good for society helped me stay motivated and complete all 4 sessions.

LO 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

We were a group of around 20-30 people who went on drives together and picked a common site to work on. Being in a group helped speed up the work a lot because, in 2 hours, we had collected a lot of trash/weed which did make a significant change; if the group had been smaller, even after 2 hours, the place would have looked the same without any betterment.

LO 6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

In our 4 drives, the two major issues we dealt with were Water pollution by clearing the weed from the pond and waste management and pollution (at large) by clearing out the plastic and other trash near the beach and Dabholi River. Even though it was an activity which was out of my comfort zone, in the end, it felt good knowing that in some way, I’ve contributed to society.