One Stefani Shamrowicz says has spent 23 days collecting garbage across the US.
With a month off from her job at a campus recreation center, the 24-year-old decided to use her vacation to travel through the US and clean the environment.
Interestingly, she drove more than 70 hours in total through Arizona, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Ohio, and several other places to collect everything ranging from bottles full of pee to disposed lawn ornaments.
Young Stefani Uses Her Vacation to Clean Up the US
The Fort Collins local said that around 80 percent of the trash she picked up were face masks and drinking bottles, but also fast-food toys and even a tire with a pair of cowboy boots in it.
For the young lady, shaming isn’t her goal, but rather motivating others to pick up their trash. She never writes on social medial that people are awful or disgusting, but rather ‘hey, I’m cleaning up this city or that city’, trying to maintain a positive light.
Motivating others is crucial, she believes. She may collect trash, but she can’t collect it all. So, she believes that if we all start to pick up some of it when we’re on a walk or a run, some magic may happen.
During her cleanup vacation, she collected anywhere from one to 16 bags and sometimes felt discouraged when she thought she wasn’t doing enough.
One of the moments she remembers the most is when there was a lot of trash in one place and she quickly filled up four bags, but broke down when she realized that there was more left.
She said it felt like those four bags meant nothing. But, this young lady quickly came back by remembering it’s not nothing if we’re doing what we can.
Her monumental day was the 100th bag in Ohio on the 16th day of her cleaning spree. She said she dedicated it to her parents who raised her to be independent and have been an immense support for this cleanup journey.
People Donated to Support Her Cleaning Initiative
Through her Instagram, people could donate $10 for a bag for Stefani to clean up in their name and she later used the money for gas and lodging.
She also photographed the bags with the names of the donators and shared them on Instagram, expressing her gratitude for supporting her in her cleaning journey.
Stefani says she’s happy that so many people have responded positively to her initiative. Some even sent her photos of trash bags they’ve collected.
Although she’s resumed work on June 1st, she’s happy to have good stories to share about her one-of-a-kind road cleaning trip.
Sources:
