Clean - Picking Up What You Didn't Drop
| Category: | Scout Law |
|---|---|
| Props: | A piece of litter picked up on the way into the meeting (optional) |
| Notes: | For any meeting. Works for Cub Scouts and older Scouts. A good lead-in to a park or community cleanup service project. |
(Hold up the piece of litter, if you have one.) I found this on the sidewalk on my way in tonight. It isn't mine. I didn't drop it. So why did I pick it up?
Most people walk right past trash on the ground. "Not mine. Not my problem." And they're right that they didn't drop it. But here's the thing: if everybody thinks that way, it never gets picked up. It just sits there, and then there's a little more, and then a little more.
A Scout is clean. That means keeping yourself clean, and keeping the places you go clean. Scouting has a simple rule for that: leave every place better than you found it. Not just as good. Better.
That means picking up the trash at the campsite that the last group left behind. Wiping down the table at the restaurant even though someone will clean it later. Grabbing the bottle on the trail, the paper towel on the bathroom floor, the wrapper by the bench at the park.
It takes about three seconds. Nobody will thank you. Most of the time, nobody will even see you do it. But the place will be a little better because you were there.
So here's a challenge for this week. Every day, pick up one piece of trash you didn't drop. Just one. See how long it takes before it becomes a habit.