Ideas: Trash Walk

Dick Moss, Editor

A Trash Walk is a great way to make fitness walking more fun while improving your local environment.

Organizing a Trash Walk
Divide your students into small groups and have them walk the route of their choice through your school's neighborhood. As they walk, they should keep a lookout for any trash lying by the side of the street.

Instruct them to place the trash in a plastic grocery bag and bring it back to the school. One student can hold the bag, while another can itemize the pieces of trash that are picked up. Warn them not to pick up dangerous items such as condoms or syringes, but to report the location of those items to you.

Scoring
    Provide a point system for the trash they find. For example:
3 pts =    Recyclable containers: cans, bottles, etc.
2 pts = Recyclable paper: newspapers, inserts, fine paper
1 pt = Other: (cigarette butts, plastic     wrappers, etc):.
    When everybody returns, do a trash count—add the points and the team with the highest score wins.

The Trash Walk will make your students more environmentally aware, and the search for trash will give them something to think about while reaping the fitness benefits of a good walk in the outdoors.

References
1. “Clean up your act.” Canadian Intramural Recreation Association (CIRA) Journal, April 1995.
2. Sue Chedzoy, Physical Education in the School Grounds, Exciting and enjoyable outside activities for exercise and health. Ages 5-11, Southgate Publishers Ltd., 2013.

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