As masks and gloves litter streets, team challenges communities to step up and clean up
(FOX 2) - As the weather gets nicer and more things start to open, more people are heading outside. A side issue with the COVID-19 pandemic that remains a problem: the litter.
Specifically, things like gloves and masks.
"Since the pandemic, we've seen just tons of gloves everywhere, masks everywhere, obviously things that people are using to protect themselves in the pandemic, but unfortunately they're not making it to the proper receptacles," said Justin LaParl.
It’s the type of thing Cori Champagne and Justin LaParl noticed when they began cleaning up their own neighborhood.
“We're protecting ourselves with all these, whether it's a glove, plastic, whatever it is - if we then discard it and just throw it on the ground, maybe we temporarily protected ourself for a minute but we're hurting ourselves in the long run," Justin said.
In April, they started a Covi19 Cleanup Challenge in their community of St. Claire Shores -- with the help of this good girl Royce, of course.
“Change happens in numbers, right? We’re only two people, we can only do so much. When everyone does their part and they just do one bag at a time, shoot one piece of trash at a time -- it makes a difference," Cori said.
So they got their friends involved -- using the hashtag #Covid19CleanUpChallenge. Encouraging people to help - taking safety precautions using trash grabbers.
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And they’re hoping to spread the message even further.
"If we can react like we did with the pandemic, and do it with just picking up trash, it would be unbelievable. I don't think any of us would recognize the world we're walking in just from a week of people committing to that," Justin said.
“Grab a bag, grab a glove, just do your part," Cori said.
The team hopes that by doing just a little bit, it can go a really long way. You can reach them on Facebook at LaParl Real Estate or Cori Champagne.