You know how kids tend to race  just about everywhere? Hand yours a garbage bag as they race past, and suddenly you’ll see a kid with a purpose.

The Rubbish Race or Garbage Walk, as we alternately call it, has been a family ritual for a while now. Last summer, when my kids  were just 2-ish and 4, I handed them each a garden glove for one hand and a re-purposed plastic shopping bag for the other.

Given how much time we spend at our local parks or wandering neighborhood sidewalks, it feels important to treat these public spaces the way I would my own boulevard. The trash that accumulates may not be ours, but as my now five-year-old likes to remind passers by, “This will definitely make the Earth sick. We can’t leave it here.”

The kids now insist on taking garbage bags with them on every walk and eliminating all litter they spot. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm has been stressful at times.

I’m thinking of the brown paper bag of something leaky adrift between lanes on a busy road. Thankfully, they knew enough not to run out there, but they couldn’t understand why I was reluctant embrace the ooze. Especially since I didn’t bring any gloves.

Who knew a two-year-old could tantrum about litter!?

I’m also thinking of the ubiquitous cigarette butts that show up at stop signs and in the sand under the swings. I have to run a safety sweep before those little Garfield gardening gloves come off, or I face a fist full of germy toxins and a smiling kid shouting, “I got some more, mama.”

The poor girl was awfully puzzled by my adamant, “NO, drop that!”

Thankfully, I don’t think my mixed message did any damage. We still grab whatever garbage we safely can on our daily walks to the park. Duty calls even on harried grocery store runs when a runaway coupon catches a sharp eye.

When the kids are a bit older, I’ll encourage them to turn their Rubbish Race into an Ecological Apprenticeship through the Nicodemus Wilderness Project.

Has your family participated in a Community Clean up Day or made cleaning up a daily practice?

What rules have you established to keep the activity safe and hygienic?

Tags: Free, Healing the Earth

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

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