I’ve always found myself focused on the idea of making a difference, so when faced with the task of my final BP Award challenge, I knew I wanted my Community Project to be impressive.
I originally had no idea what to do for the project, all I had was the badge requirements of “Carry out a significant and worthy project that benefits the community locally, nationally or internationally. Projects should contribute to the an improvement in the community, both practically and culturally”.
And I did have a few key points I wanted it to be about:
– Outdoors and Adventure Inspiring, to tie in with rest of my BP
– Environmental focused to reflect my love of nature
– Targeting waste and pollution, which seems to be an increasing problem for many of the gorgeous places I visit
– Make a difference and create a legacy
With all this in mind I brainstormed and suddenly the Hike it Out Campaign came to life. The environmental awareness campaign is aimed at making adventurers responsible for taking their rubbish with them when exploring, and better still to remove what they find along the way. The campaign will do this by educating followers on the damaging effects of litter in the environment, and provides advice on how to minimise their impact when exploring.
Within four days I had written a project proposal, a marketing plan, designed a logo and content, and then launched the campaign on social media. Within a week the Facebook page had over 300 followers and been shared more than 10 times, which is great for a startup. When you mix passion with a project it all happens so easily.
Creating content is fun, I’m getting out there, hiking, cleaning up the environment and sharing it. I’m researching environmental impacts of everything I find along the way and I am learning so much. The support already is amazing. I feel like I’m making picking up rubbish trendy; I’ve never really heard people proudly sharing that they picked up other peoples trash before. Already we’re making a difference, it’s small but there.
I’m so excited and inspired, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.
“You must be the change you want to see in the world” – Gandhi
