From this community engagement, I learned that not everyone cherishes our Earth like they should. A beautiful area has been turned into an easy area to dump trash. Additionally, they are now taking away the natural beauty of trees. The borough has resources that are sent around to take care of roads, water spills, and electrical malfunctions. There should be an area that is sent to take care of our Earth. Send individuals to areas that they know are trash dumping sights and do their best to clean the areas and limit the areas that deforestation is allowed. Living in Dunmore my whole life, created a deeper connection to the land around me. It grew to bother me that I had disregarded one of my favorite spots for so long. Even though my cleanup was only of a small area, I hope that it has helped the area grow and return to live trash free for the time being.

Thinking about all the chapters we have covered in class, specifically this cleanup draws me back to river and water and deforestation. In class, we learned about the connection between different waterways all over the world. The river under the Bunker Hill bridge does not just magically end, it connects to another source. Seeing garbage floating down the river, made me think of the place that it will end up. The oils and chemicals left on the trash can pollute the river and be spread to wherever it continues to travel. Water is not a trash can and we should not abuse it as an easy way out of throwing something away. Deforestation was not an area I was expecting to relate to in this area. When I saw the missing area of trees, that was once so beautiful, it was a shock. If Dunmore is willing to cut down parts of our very few woods, we will become a boring plain town. Lacking the beauty of the trees surrounding the river. While deforestation is a harder area for me to help with, it opened my eyes to how little they mean to individuals. 

Overall, I feel that my mini clean up of the river serves a bigger purpose. I did not realize how much my area was affected by pollution and it makes me want to help. Therefore, I believe this community engagement served as a learning experience for me. 

I first started our conversation with the amount we recycle. While we only had one can, I did not think that was enough. I expressed to my parents that we could be helping our Earth by taking an extra second out of our day to walk to the recycling bin instead of a trash can. My convincing was enough to make my father go to obtain three more recycling bins. We now have two bins outside our back porch and two on the side of the garage. Easy access to remove recycling goods from the house and even a car. Since we have our new bins, I have noticed how much more we have begun to recycle. The bins fill up even faster than before. The little conversation I had with my parents allowed me to make a small change on my footprint with the Earth.

Since I was able to change a dynamic in my household, it makes me curious as to how far I can go with the recycling of materials in my home. Interest in using more earth friendly products has been my next topic. My family and I have been trying different ways to go about how we can grow our earth friendly habits. For example, trying to find what items we can bring into our household that can limit unrecyclable goods and use of water? The second part of our discussion allowed us to explore this option and brainstorm ideas.Therefore, this engagement was one that I believe should be considered in everyone’s households.