日本語↓ Sometimes I feel like the Green Bird goddess is shining on us, because we often get good luck with the weather! Our January clean up was no exception. If the clean up had been the day before, I would have had to reschedule it due to extreme heat. At the same time, rain was forecast in the afternoon on the day of the clean. But the morning was just right! No rain and a cool day. Perfect to get stuck into the planters and roadsides of Strathfield. Our small-ish team of 15 picked up 16.8 kilograms of rubbish in just an hour and a half! And we could have kept going, except our bags were completely full and we ended up walking back to the starting point having to leave rubbish behind. What struck me and other volunteers this month was the immediate effect our activities can have on those around us. Smokers who were smoking nearby walked over to the bin to dispose of their cigarettes. A man started giving me a lecture on not throwing cans into the bin because people collect them to recycle for money. I was going to mention to him how we find a lot of can tabs (the tab you lift to open the canned product) on the roads, and how these are dangerous to wildlife, but I decided against it. It was clear that our activities had left some type of impression on him, which is the goal anyway. All of the volunteers that came were there because they care about the environment, and want to turn their concerns into action. Whether they are locals, or from Japan, Korea, the Czech Republic or Argentina, we all share a common goal in wanting our cities and our Earth to be cleaner! Thank you for showing our local community that everyone is capable of making change through their own, individual actions. See you again in February when we return to Darling Harbour!