CAS Activity: Tapi Riverfront Cleaning
Description:
In this CAS activity, me and my friend picked up trash from the Tapi Riverfront to promote cleanliness and environmental sustainability. We chose the riverfront because it’s a public place and we have observed that a lot of trash is always lying near the shoreline. This could potentially be very dangerous as not the quality of water is affected but also a lot of health problems can be caused to life around and inside the river.
Reflection of Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcome 2 (Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process)
One thing I found challenging was the physical hard work required in this activity. Initially, I thought that picking up trash is as simple as it gets. However, after cleaning for about 15 minutes, I realized that this activity is very physically demanding. You have to bend every 5 seconds to pick up the trash and when you do it repeatedly, it becomes like a flexibility exercise. This activity was a learning experience for me as I learned a lot about the process and the efforts involved in cleaning.
Learning Outcome 3 (Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience)
A lot of planning was required before executing this activity. Me and my friend decided that we will go for cleaning on Saturday as it was a school holiday. The timing we both agreed upon was 6:30 AM as at this time we will find less crowd, less heat and we were both free at this time. Gathering resources like garbage bags, gloves, rubber bands and a camera (for evidence) was also required beforehand. Planning all these things out made executing this activity easy as we could focus upon cleaning without worrying about other things.
Learning Outcome 5 (Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively)
Working collaboratively was definitely helpful in this activity. Working in pairs made both the planning and execution of this experience easier. While planning, me and my friend divided the responsibility of bringing resources required for this activity. Furthermore, while doing the cleaning, we were able to cover more ground and work efficiently. Moreover, cleaning together made the activity competitive and which was like a motivation to work more. All of this made this activity more fun, feasible and structured compared to working alone.
Learning Outcome 6 (Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance)
It is well established that trash near water can lead to problems like River Pollution and Water Contamination which affects both aquatic life and human beings. I also observed a flock of birds sitting near the trash. This trash can be harmful for them as they might choke on it if they try to eat it or it can trouble them if it gets tangled in their feathers. Cleaning and Picking up trash can prevent such problems. Although I know that cleaning on such a small scale will have little or no direct effect on the environment but at least it’s a small step towards cleanliness and sustainability.
Learning Outcome 7 (Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions)
Since we were going out during the covid pandemic, there was an ethical question we needed to answer: Is it worth going out and risking your lives to do some good for the community? The corona virus spreads through transmission of fluid and picking up other people’s trash could be potentially very dangerous. This is the reason we chose to go out early and avoid as many people as possible. Also we strictly wore our masks all the time and sanitised our hands frequently.
Final Take-Away:
The learner profile attribute I have demonstrated in this activity is Caring. By doing this activity, I have made a positive difference in the lives of others around us. I have displayed compassion towards the environment. I have made a small initiative to take care of the environment and, hopefully, I have inspired others to do the same.
I think I have achieved success in this activity. I picked up as much trash as possible and I learnt a lot about what goes into cleaning a public place like riverfront. Completing this activity brings me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I feel good for taking some time out to do something which benefits our society. Doing this activity has also made me more conscious about the trash we throw around and how much effort it takes to clean that up. I will try to be a lot more careful while buying or throwing plastic trash and ask others to do the same.
Evidence:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yYTcRAUBKMCY8gHFb_yvUZ9ucXhxP8zn11n5WLKKpvc/edit