A Kentucky Wesleyan College student, Ethan Dossett, has created a project in attempt to clean up Kentucky waterways and reduce everyday litter. He created this project, known as The Kayak Project in 2018. Ethan launched his project on Twitter and currently has roughly 40 followers. The Twitter account consist of tweets to promote and educate everyone on the importance of reducing our litter and recycling. For example, the account retweeted a video showing the amount of waste and garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean. The amount of trash in the Pacific is “now three times the size of France” according to the video. On January 28^th, 2020, The Kayak Project announced that they will be collaborating with the KWC’s Majors without Borders organization to host a campus cleanup event. The event took place on Sunday February 9^th, 2020.

The campus cleanup event was opened to all students of Kentucky Wesleyan College. The event had 22 volunteers and was divided into 6 groups. Each group was designated to certain areas covering all of Kentucky Wesleyan College. Collectively, the total amount of trash cleanup was around 6 bags, 1 bag per group. Once the trash is bagged, the bags will be handed over to the Environmental Club on campus to be sorted for recyclables. Ethan Dossett, The Kayak Project founder, gave a statement for this event: “This event was created in partnership with Majors Without Borders. Our main message for this particular project was to bring together like-minded advocates and raise awareness of the litter that is present on our campus. This was planned for over a month in advance and we had several people sign up in the Rotunda! I was definitely feeling blessed when the final number came out to be 22 total volunteers. Knowing that this amount of people care enough about the environment and the landscape that encapsulates our beautiful campus is a great feeling. From the beginning, the Kayak Projects’ main mission has been to bring awareness to how everyday litter on our land and water affects our life and many other creatures that are also alive. We are all alive, the grass, trees, bushes, birds, and everything in between. When an individual can take a moment to realize the life around them and realize the value of life in all organisms and species, maybe just maybe that person can feel an inclination to make an impact. This impact can be minor or major and every effort counts towards the overall movement of compassionate living towards the Earth, humans, and all species.”

There is such a positive impact to the world by picking up trash in your community. For example, the less litter on the ground means that less animals and waterways can be harmed. Animals can ingest litter and waste and become extremely sick or die. Owensboro resides by the Ohio River, which drains directly into the Mississippi River then flows into the Atlantic Ocean. By cleaning up trash in the Owensboro community, we can prevent further waste leaking into the oceans. It costs absolutely nothing to pick up or throw away trash into designated garbage disposals. Hopefully by participating in the campus cleanup will encourage many others to get involved for the next event.

There are also other ways to reduce waste and help the environment. Instead of buying plastic water bottles, use a refillable one instead. By doing this simple task, it will cut down the number of plastic bottles used. If you must use a plastic bottle, make sure to recycle it afterwards. Next, reuse bags to the grocery store. Walmart has now installed a plastic bag recycle center at the front of its store. Just bring in used plastic shopping bags from any store to be recycled. So, in the long run, Earth is everyone’s home and we should be taking better care of it. These simple acts can make a big impact on the world and will hopefully encourage others to join in.