Trash Impactor

Woof – it was a long week! Earlier this week, I was able to get back to the dog park with my best buds, Nixin and Frank. My hooman hadn’t had much time for walks, so even a quick chase around the yard was just the boost I needed to keep my tail wagging until the weekend.

Unfortunately, when we got to the dog park, we discovered it was leading a secret life as a garbage dump! Broken toys, bone bits, bags and who-knows-what were laying all over our park. The wet, muddy, smelly (not in a good way) trash was everywhere. In Michigan, an interesting phenomenon happens once the snow melts… trash of all shapes and sizes begins to crawl out of the ground like zombies. It was really disgusting. So much so, that Frank suggested we organize a park clean-up. He said we could schedule it just in time for “Earth Day”. 

I wasn’t sure what Frank meant by “Earth Day”- so I asked my hooman’s google machine. I learned that Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a way to increase awareness about the environment. Each year on April 22, millions of hoomans worldwide celebrate the day with clean-up events. Having learned that, it sounded like Earth Day would be a perfect day to clean up our park! We told every dog, dingo, mutt, and mongrel to meet us at the park on Saturday morning, Earth Day 2023.   

Now I am not intentionally an environmentalist. I mean, I suppose I like a clean environment – I never really have given it much thought. I just learned about Earth Day afterall! I appreciate my yard, the woods, and swimming in the Great Lakes, but not until my last trip to the dog park did I realize I need to pay a little more attention to the world around me. 

I overheard that more than 1 billion hoomans in over 190 countries celebrate Earth Day every year – cleaning up dog parks all over the world. As it turns out, these dog parks are somehow all connected! Hearing this made me feel good – like I was part of something bigger than just my corner park. All of a sudden, the work of picking up oily black banana peels became even MORE important. 

As I stepped back from my trash collection to survey our progress. I saw canines of all shapes and sizes working side-by-side. Hoomans were laughing as they piled trash bags into their vehicles. Pups were playing chase, and my park was looking beautiful again.

So friends, as we go into a new springtime week, let’s do each other a favor. If you happen to see garbage lying around, pick it up. If you have trash, toss it in a trashcan. After all, your world is connected to mine. So I will do my part, and you do yours, and together we will change the world, deal? 

Bark at ya next week – your friend,