Vince Viga

The Great American Cleanup happened this weekend. In case you’ve been living under some rock, this is a nationwide event to clean up your local area by grabbing your gloves and trash bags and getting to work. I got the privilege of being a part of this event as sort of a social media liaison taking pictures of the event and covering it from the Facebook perspective. I got great photos of the event and people out on the town doing their part to clean in the community. The best part was that these weren’t just adults or community organizations coming together for the good of Bulloch County. There were people of all ages lined up and ready to take part in the festivities and it reminded me of one of my favorite lectures (yes, I have a favorite lecture, you don’t?). This is the Simon Sinek lecture on the golden circle in which he said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”

The population of Bulloch County is nearly 79,000 according to the most recent Census numbers, and 2.5% of the population was in downtown Statesboro or peppered about the county picking up trash and litter, disposing of abandoned car parts, and generally picking up things that should never have been left on the ground. This indicates to me that the type of litter that I saw out there was totally preventable. No one drops a $100 bill and just walks off like it was just a huge weight off their shoulders, the average man’s wallet has at least three items in it that is unneeded or unnecessary for day to day functioning. A coke can can’t be that much trouble. A candy wrapper is not that heavy. Is it that big of a problem to take a few more steps or leave it in your pocket until you can dispose of your garbage properly? Not at all, but this is why Keep Bulloch Beautiful does it and nearly three thousand people got in on the act because it makes a difference. Those who participated now know how much this carelessness piles up and hopefully they take it out to the people they hang out with and prevent this problem one small piece at a time.

Finally, I learned that if you take care of your team, your team will always have your back.

I am a lone ranger. I have always felt that I am able to function much more efficiently when I work alone, but The Great American Cleanup taught me a little differently. I’m sure it was difficult to make people get out of their warm beds at 8am and pick up trash on the streets for at least three hours, but the team makes it worthwhile. I watch Kelly Collingsworth at the team at Keep Bulloch Beautiful not only get the volunteers to their destinations and return them in one piece, they fed them and accommodated them thanking them for their time and showing appreciation for the people who got their hands dirty to make this event a success. This is why there will be more and more people who take part in this event every year. They aren’t just cattle to be shuffled from point A to point B to do work, they are people who are appreciated and respected for the deeds they do.

With an event full of so much positivity and productivity, how could you not take anything away from that?