Dundas Ecowalker example of creative youth volunteer project
Nolan Clark is cleaning up and giving back to his community
Craig Campbell/Dundas Star News
Friday, November 13, 2020
A lack of regular volunteer opportunities was the spark for Nolan Clark to start his own “entrepreneurial eco-walking” project, cleaning up and giving back in his community.
By Nov. 5, Nolan had travelled more than 75 kilometres of local trails, parks and open spaces, gathering, sorting and appropriately disposing of more than 8,800 pounds of garbage and recycling.
Now he’s hoping to set the template for other students his age to do their own eco-walking projects and collect valuable volunteer hours while helping improve the community.
After participating in the Spruce the Bruce program at his family cottage near Southampton, Nolan – who turns 17 in late December – came home amid the COVID-19 pandemic to a big change in the way school works, and found his normal volunteering options weren’t available.
“I was cooped up inside a lot,” he said.
Walking local trails to get outside and relax, the Grade 12 Dundas Valley Secondary School student noticed plenty of garbage.
“I decided to apply the same principles as Spruce the Bruce,” Nolan said.
He started walking around the community, collecting garbage and other material dumped in local trails and parks and alongside roads. It got him out of the house and into nature, helping his community and filling the gap left by losing other volunteering opportunities.
“I just started walking around our neighbourhood with grocery bags – then garbage piled up in our garage,” Nolan said.
He contacted the City of Hamilton’s Clean and Green program to see what kind of support they could offer his expanding project.
Team Up to Clean Up provides Nolan with specially marked bags, which the city picks up with his family’s regular weekly garbage and recycling.
He’s brought metal and electronic waste to the Dundas transfer station, and learned more from staff there.
Walking his street on Nov. 1, he noticed smashed pumpkins on the road. Nolan and his brother swept up the mess, and started collecting more.
A post on his Instagram page invited people to drop off unwanted jack-o’-lanterns.
As the garage filled up again, Nolan found a farmer who took the pumpkins to feed cows in the winter. Nolan collected more than 11,000 pounds of pumpkins, diverting them from landfill.
Stretching the impact of his project further, Nolan returns the beverage containers that he collects for the deposit. He passed the proceeds to Hamilton Food Share, and matched the funds with his own donation.
Celeste Taylor, resource development manager of Hamilton Food Share, said on Nov. 12 that Nolan has donated $340 and, like all pre-holiday donations, it’s being matched by the Pinball Clemons Foundation.
“For every dollar donated, Hamilton Food Share can get five dollars’ worth of food, so the impact of his efforts is an incredible $3,400 worth of food for Hamilton’s food banks and hot meal programs,” Taylor said. “Nolan is such a great young guy and this kind of super-practical community service is a great example of how creative and hardworking young people can be.”
“It’s something I want to continue,” Nolan said of the eco-walking project, adding he wants to “network with other people my age who need volunteer hours. It’s really hard to get volunteer hours. Maybe it will reach other areas and have more of an impact.”
Updated on Monday, November 16, 2020.