On January 28th, 3 members of the AYLUS Rancho Cucamonga Branch helped pick up trash at the North Etiwanda Preserve trail for near three hours. Coming from someone who’s family hikes there at least twice a month, the trail gets many visitors that go there for exercise and a walk in nature. We recognized that it was extremely important to keep the public area safe, clean, and respectful to the wildlife.
Using tools of gloves, trash bags, and trash p
ickers, our team gradually hiked up the path with all of the equipment necessary. We noticed small pieces of beer bottles scattered along the trail, growing bigger as we hiked more and more. We eventually made it to a resting area, which we found was full of broken beer bottles big and small. We cleared the entire resting area of the bottles, and also picked up the excessive plastic water bottles. When we made it to the top of the hike and back, we picked up nearly two trash bags worth of bottles, wrappers, and paper.
After the hike, we realized the importance of keeping a big public area like the trail clean. It not only encourages more hikers, but also helps clean the environment safe and healthy. We also received praise from two hikers, who now know about the AYLUS organization, encouraging us to volunteer more.
The whole volunteer activity lasted for 3 hours, and the names of the volunteers are: Zixuan Wang, Yang Xue Zhe Sun, and Tommy Tang.