Litterbug Pickup

Title: Litterbug Pickup
Description: Take a walk around your neighborhood or local park and pick up litter, then give it a new, more creative use.
Season: all year
Length of Activity: 1-2 hours
Age: 3-adult
Button: Start the Activity

Litterbug Pickup
Have you ever heard the word litter? What do you think it might mean?

Litter, for us, is an item that, instead of being dropped in the recycling bin or garbage can, is thrown or scattered on the ground. It comes in all shapes and sizes and unfortunately can be found just about anywhere, especially in cities and parks or school grounds. The problem is, as we learned in our watershed activity, litter doesn’t necessarily stay where it’s dropped, and over time, it finds its way into our rivers, lakes and ocean, polluting our water and endangering wildlife.

Today’s lesson will not only clean up your neighborhood or park, but also help you to look at litter in a whole new way.

Supplies and Tools Needed:
● Disposable gloves
● A bag to gather litter in
● Glue or tape

Getting started

Step 1: Take a walk around your neighborhood or in a nearby park and carefully pick up trash as you find it. Be sure to wear disposable gloves for hygienic purposes.

Step 2: Upon returning home, dump your bag of litter out on your driveway or front porch. What do you notice about the litter you found? How many bottles did you find? How many wrappers or cans?

Step 3: Again being sure to use your disposable gloves, use your found litter to create a bug. Using glue or tape, consider a cup or can or bottle for the body, use straws or twist wrappers to make legs, caps to make eyes, plastic bags to make wings, etc. For inspiration, consider checking out some litterbugs made by others here.

Step 4: After you have finished your litter bug be sure to sort all the garbage you gathered into the appropriate recycling bin or trash can.

Taking it Deeper
Make a vow to become a Litter Leader!
Talk with your child about what they can do to take a stand against litter. If you want to take it even deeper, hop on over to our lesson about becoming a Triple R Ranger.

Further Reading
We love the book Litterbug Doug by Ellie Bethel. If your library or local bookstore doesn’t have a copy, you could always listen to it being read aloud here.

Further Watching
If you have never seen the short Walt Disney film from 1961 titled Litterbug, it is a classic.