Twenty-one different cleanups and over 100 people throughout the city are focused on picking up trash.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Students from an East Nashville high school are ready to clean up their community one piece of trash at a time.
“It is important to start with young kids about not just not littering, but also taking care of our community,” Jesi Seifert, a teacher at Stratford STEM Magnet High School, said.
Seifert teaches interdisciplinary science and research at Stratford STEM Magnet High School, but one of her lessons also involves preserving the community.
“We have football games, baseball games, soccer games; the band is playing; we have festivals, and for some reason, the trash just can’t make it back into the bags,” Seifert explained.
With litter scattered around the neighborhoods next to the high school, Seifert decided her students would start by tidying up their own streets during the second annual Greater Nashville Litter Cleanup this weekend.
“Sometimes you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do,” Seifert told News 2. “The kids, like I said, they may not be contributing to the problem, but cleaning up the problem makes them feel more like part of the community, and there’s a certain amount of buy-in to an area. You take better care of a place that you’ve helped clean up.”
However, the students will not be alone in their efforts to clean up Nashville this weekend.
“Having younger students and younger kids, it’s exciting to see them out there because I first learned about recycling when I was younger in elementary school,” said Allyson Perrigan, statewide engagement coordinator with the Tennessee Environmental Council. “We’re out here to help protect and preserve our environment for the next generation.”
Twenty-one different cleanup efforts and more than 100 people throughout the city will be focused on picking up trash.
“Trash is considered a pollutant in our environment, and it has a heavy impact, especially on our waterways,” Perrigan stated. “Microplastics are one of the worst pollutants.”
“East Nashville is right here on the Cumberland River,” Seifert explained. “All this litter that gets thrown on the ground is eventually going to end up in the Cumberland, which provides our drinking water and our places for recreation.”
Last year, the Tennessee Environmental Council, with the help of volunteers, removed more than 6,000 pounds of trash. This year, the goal is to pick up 10,000 pounds.
“No matter the size, it’s definitely a difference without it being in our environment,” Perrigan told News 2.
“I want our kids to get out there and be leaders in our community, but it does them so good to see other people pitching in,” Seifert added.
To sign up to volunteer with one of the litter cleanup groups, click here.