Indigenous Peoples Day - Before & After

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Honoring Indigenous Peoples Day: Transforming a Neighborhood Dumpsite

Cleaning up trash when I go for a walk is something I do often—just my part of who we are as a company that cares about the planet. This week I decided to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day by taking a large bag and my trash picker* out for a clean-up walk through our neighborhood.

I expected to be able to clean 2 miles and come home with a half bag of trash. My normally neat little neighborhood’s contribution to the debris that makes its way to the river is usually confined to escapees from the morning trashcan pick-up or dropped food wrappers, and (interestingly) “bagged” dog feces from humans that respectively must not be able to bend at the waist, and those that can bend at the waist but lack the hand coordination to carry the bag home to their trash.

As I rounded the end of my first block, I spotted a dump site tucked into the edge of a wooded field, a place so often overlooked that it had faded into the background of daily life. Someone had clearly raided a trash can, brought the bags of trash to this area to rummage through, and left anything that was not valuable to them behind. The marred earth, a stark reminder of the consequences of poverty and desperation.

I set about cleaning it up. I took up my trash-picker and filled the large bag (both donated to my effort by SOLVE) in just over an hour or so. Not having a second bag on me at the time, I will have to return this week to finish what I started

There are so many times, as we travel the city, that I want to leap from the car and begin cleaning up the roadside. But I don’t. So, when I found SOLVE, an organization that coordinates volunteers for cleaning up our beaches, roadsides, and communities, I was thrilled. I join them when I can, and I emulate them in my own way when joining into a larger work group is not possible.

But my Monday cleanup became more than just picking up trash. It was an act of respect for the land, a celebration of community spirit, and a tribute to the values of stewardship and gratitude that embody Indigenous Peoples Day. 

I have committed to making that act an annual way that I will be giving back and trying to make a difference every Indigenous Peoples Day.

That neglected dumpsite was the beginning—a reminder that every act of restoration is a step toward honoring the past and shaping a better future for all.

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